Timing is Everything
by Pikapuff728
Summary: What if Bella arrived in Forks during the summer before Senior year instead of the middle of Junior year? What if Bella had spent the summer with Jake before starting school?  How do small changes affect Bella's 'Natural Path?
1. The Return to Forks

So I finally figured out online editing/updating on fanfiction! Long time credit is coming to all the people I have to thank!

I've been updating this story on fanfiction as the chapters come in from Project Team Beta. I decided that it would be a much more enjoyable read if the grammar was correct! Hooray!

Thanks to korrineraylie and daniwerner from PTB for beta-ing this chap!

Thanks to Bonnsammy for validating!

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><p>My self-banishment to Forks had been delayed a few months by Phil's broken leg, but Renee was convinced she could handle everything, so I was resuming my exile to the drizzling Northwest.<p>

I detested Forks, but I was looking forward to not spending another full summer under the blistering Phoenix sun. As much as I loved the heat and warm, I was very pale and the southern summer sun was a little too strong for my fair complexion. The constant cloud cover and rain offered a respite of my daily application of SPF 60.

At first when I told Charlie I wouldn't be coming until August, he assumed I had changed my mind altogether about moving up there. After some explanation of Phil's leg, and how I wanted to finish my junior year without interruption, he eventually understood. Charlie's usually not an emotional man, but I could tell he was excited that I was coming to live with him.

Charlie picked me up from the airport, and we rode back to Forks in comfortable silence, except for the occasional question about my flight or comfort in general. I dozed off at some point, and awoke just as we pulled up to the familiar house that had been my parents when they were first married. My bedroom was the same one I'd had since I was a baby, and the one the one I used whenever I visited Charlie. When I got inside to unpack, I noted that Charlie had added a desk to my room, and he had bought me a new double sized mattress and bed. Folded at the foot of the bed were some new sheets and comforter. I looked up at him and raised my eyebrow.

"I figured the least I could do was make you comfortable while you were here. The saleslady picked out the bed sheets. I hope you like purple." He looked embarrassed.

"Purple's great, thanks. You didn't need to go to such trouble. My old bed was fine." I smiled tentatively at him.

"Yeah, well…" then he trailed off into something unintelligible. "Why don't you get unpacked and settled in. I'm ordering pizza for dinner, and the Blacks are coming over." He turned to leave the room.

"I can make dinner, I don't mind." I offered. He flushed red and looked sheepish. My constant blushing was a gift from Charlie.

"Well Bells, I don't really have much food on hand to make a meal. Pizza's probably easiest. Billy and Jake won't mind." I made a mental note to take stock of the pantry and fridge later tonight.

I unpacked my clothes into the closet and dresser and grabbed my toiletry bag before I headed to the bathroom. Planes always made me feel kinda gross, so I was looking forward to relaxing under the hot water to soothe my tired muscles. The scent of my favourite strawberry shampoo offered some aromatherapy and comfort. I dried my hair and went downstairs just as I heard honking from outside. I heard Charlie call from the front yard.

"Bells, come on out for a sec." I poked my head out the door. I saw a rust-coloured, old school truck pulling into the driveway next to Charlie's cruiser. I stepped out onto the porch beside Charlie. "So, like your homecoming gift?" I stared at Charlie blankly, not understanding what he was talking about. "The truck - I bought it off Billy here. Welcome home, B, Bells." He smiled at me and his eyes crinkled.

"Wow." I was stunned. "Thanks Dad, this is amazing. You really didn't have to do this. I was saving up to buy myself something." I gave him a big hug, and we separated somewhat awkwardly.

"Well, like I said, I wanted you to be comfortable here." He was looking at the ground.

"He got a great deal on it too." I heard a voice call from across the yard. "Jake here fixed it up himself, so it runs perfectly." I saw Billy come around the front of the truck in his wheelchair, smiling as he looked up at me. I smiled back, remembering that I really liked Billy. He had always seemed so calm and majestic to me, like he held a lot of inner strength. I looked up behind him to see a beautiful boy pushing Billy's wheelchair. He had stunning russet-coloured skin and long, silky black hair. I looked down at my own pale skin and was immediately envious. He looked nervous at first, then saw me gawking at him and gave me a huge smile, showcasing his perfect white teeth.

"Bella, you remember Jacob right?" Charlie offered his introduction. Jacob? Hmm…It had been so long since I'd last been in Forks that I could remember were Billy and his daughters. I vaguely recalled a little boy that usually took off with Charlie and Billy while we girls were paired together in awkward silence, each of us being very shy.

"Yeah, of course. Nice to see you again, Jacob." Jacob looked at me, took in the look of concentration on my face and smirked.

"It's ok if you don't remember me, Bella. I was pretty small last time you saw me." He had a pleasant husky voice, and he certainly didn't look small now. He had to be at least six feet, maybe taller. As he walked up to me, I saw the hint of long muscles under his dark green t-shirt. I blushed.

"Er…no – I remember you," I stuttered, offering up a smile of apology. He laughed, it was throaty and deep, and I immediately joined in. He made me feel at ease for the first time since I arrived in Forks.

"Well c'mon in, everyone. The game is about to start, and the pizza is getting cold." I headed back into the house, followed by Jacob manoeuvring his father through the front door. Charlie came in last and went straight to the fridge and grabbed a sixer of Vitamin R for him and Billy, along with some sodas for me and Jake. I grabbed some plates and napkins and met the guys in the living room.

Jake and I talked all night, while Billy and Charlie were intent on the game. He told me about his friends, his school on the reservation and the VW Rabbit he was rebuilding. Jake was so easy to talk to, and he was a great listener. He asked me questions about Phoenix, my mom and Phil, how I felt about moving up to Forks. I couldn't really answer them as truthfully as I would have liked to with Jake, what with Charlie sitting right there. Whenever I seemed a little uneasy, he seamlessly changed the topic. I hadn't talked this much with anyone before. After the game was done, Charlie turned his attention to Jake and I chatting away.

"So, Bells, I'm gonna be out all day fishing tomorrow. Why don't you see if Jake will show you the beach?" Charlie winked at Billy.

"Subtle," Jake laughed. "I'd be happy to take you down to First Beach if you're free Bella, but no pressure." And I didn't feel any; I was looking forward to hanging out with Jake, although I was embarrassed that my dad had to orchestrate the whole thing.

"I'd love to. Sounds like fun. Um…is the water warm enough to swim in?" I had vague recollections about how cold the water always seemed to me. Charlie laughed.

"Well, Bells, it's no Phoenix, but it is August. You could probably go for a bit and not freeze." Billy and Jake both chuckled. "Well, I'm gonna run Billy back up to La Push. Why don't you follow us in the truck so you know where to go tomorrow morning?"

"That's probably a good idea. It's been awhile."

"Plus, you're saving me riding in the back of the cruiser." Jacob squeezed me around the shoulder and laughed. "I appreciate it." I flushed red at his proximity, but Jake felt really nice. He was so warm, or maybe it was just a reaction to me leaving the warm Phoenix sun behind.

I followed Charlie's cruiser about fifteen minutes to La Push and pulled up to a bright red house.

"Um, so what time should I come by tomorrow?" I asked quietly. I fiddled with my hands in my lap. I felt so stupid, like my father had to arrange for me to have friends. Not that Jake made me feel that way, but there was a part of me that was super self-conscious about tomorrow's beach trip.

"10:00am work for you? I don't know if you sleep in on Saturdays or not, but it should feel pretty warm by then, and we can swim later in the afternoon if you think it's warm enough." Jake chuckled at me.

"Ha ha." I tried to sound offended, but I clearly wasn't. "Ten sounds good. I'll see you then." Then, to my surprise, Jake reached over and pulled me into a giant bear hug – quite a feat in the cab of my truck. I tried not to look too startled, and then he was gone, trotting over to the cruiser to help wheel his dad inside. I followed Charlie back to our place, but I felt confident I could find Jake's house the next day.


	2. The Beach

Thanks to thalia_csiny & daniwerner for betaing this chap and for their help with my grammar! Big thanks to Bonnysammy for validating my story!

Many reviewers want to know if this is a B/J or B/E story. I will say this; I wrote this story with the intention of exploring the "natural path" eluded to in Eclipse.

I own nothing! SM owns all these characters!

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><p>My first night in Forks was restless. I went through my usual night routine, but it wasn't my usual bed, and it wasn't my usual room, so I felt a little uncomfortable trying to settle in. Eventually I managed to fall asleep, but I didn't feel fully rested when I awoke at 8:00am. I stumbled into the shower and used my favourite strawberry scented shampoo to try to relax my tense muscles. I didn't bother drying my hair and pulled it up into a messy bun. If it was going to get wet again at the beach, there really wasn't any point in drying and straightening it.<p>

I went back to my room and tried to decide what to wear. I looked out my window and was shocked to see the sun shining down. Maybe this day at the beach would turn out all right after all. I settled on shorts and layered two tank tops. I was determined to soak up as much sun as I could in Forks, when it showed itself. I debated with myself on whether to bring a bathing suit. I didn't really think the water would be warm enough for me to want to swim, but I didn't want to be unprepared. I settled on a halter style two-piece Renee had insisted on buying me a few months ago. I grabbed a bag and threw in my suit, a long sleeved tee, and jeans. I remembered enough of my childhood to know that just because it was warm now, didn't mean it would stay warm. I also grabbed a blanket, a big towel and my sunscreen…just in case.

After a quick breakfast, I ran upstairs, brushed my teeth and grabbed my bag. I settled in my truck and started it up, only to realise I felt like a loser again. Poor Jake. Having me thrust upon him because Charlie and Billy were friends must suck for him. I was sure he would have rather been hanging out with his friends on this beautiful day. I pulled up to his house about fifteen minutes later to find Jake out front waiting for me. He probably heard my monstrously loud truck miles away.

"Hey Bella, glad you made it!" Jake reached my door and pulled me into another big hug. It was so nice of him to make me feel so welcome when our parents were making him hang out with me. "Ready for some fun at the beach?" He flashed his white teeth at me in a huge smile. "The water is actually pretty nice today; you should be able to swim!"

"Hey Jake!" I couldn't help but smile in response to his. "This weather is making think I made up grey skies and pouring rain the last time I was in Forks."

"I know – it hasn't been this nice in ages! Forks must be welcoming you home." He grinned at me. _Home._ I guess that's what Forks would be from now on, but it didn't feel like it yet.

"I should uh…probably change if we're going to go straight to the beach." I grabbed my bag from the truck.

"Sure sure," Jake replied. "I'll grab some snacks and drinks for us to take down. C'mon in, you can change in the bathroom." He led me inside their house, past the tiny living room, and showed me the washroom. I changed quickly into my suit and threw my clothes back on. I shoved my underwear and bra to the bottom of my bag and put my towel neatly on top for easy access. When I emerged, Jake had a towel and a cooler all set by the front door. "Ready to go?"

"Um, yeah, I think so." Jake led us out of the house and down the path to First Beach. I somewhat remembered taking this path before, realising it must have been when I was much younger and with Charlie. As I was lost in thought, I stumbled on some loose rocks and pitched forward. "Oomph, oh!" Surprisingly, instead of being on the ground I was half dangling from by elbow where Jake had caught hold of me.

"Whoa, easy, Bella." He set me upright and I flushed a bright crimson. "Eager to get there, are we?" He chuckled and grabbed my hand. "Clearly, the only way to get you there in one piece is for me to hold on to you." And with that, he pulled me forward by the hand, and led me down the path.

_Who was this confident boy who was completely unfazed by my clumsiness and was now holding my hand?_

I felt a little surprised. No boy in Phoenix had ever paid any attention to me, or held my hand for that matter.

_I guess it's because he's younger?_

He must have been really concerned that I could not have made it there under my own powers and was just being nice. Jake led me along the beach until we came upon a big, white driftwood log. He set down the cooler and laid out his towel in front of the marooned tree. I followed suit and pulled my towel out of my bag, as well as the blanket I had brought. As soon as Jake saw the blanket, he smiled.

"Great idea, Bells!" He threw his towel over the log, and laid the blanket out in its stead. Then he grabbed the cooler and put it along the top edge of the blanket – presumably to stop it from flying away. Then he kicked off his shoes and sat down on the blanket. I did the same as Jake rummaged around the cooler, fishing out two root beers. We sat in silence for awhile, sipping our sodas. I was actually getting a little warm sitting on the blanket, and was considering asking Jake when we could go swimming, when he stood up. "Okay Bella, it should be warm enough for you to swim now." It was like he could read my mind.

He offered his hand to help me get up - not necessary but a nice gesture. Then Jake took off his shirt, and I felt my jaw drop open and make a little 'pop' sound. He was gorgeous…and ripped. And not just 'worked out now and again' ripped, but 'freaking movie star' ripped. His broad shoulders led into lean, rippling muscles down his arms and back. He had the most defined six-pack I had ever seen, and just above his board shorts, there were these muscles on either side of his hips that looked like they'd make a V below his pants.

_Mmm…below his pants. Holy crow! _

What was I thinking? I shook my head a little and felt the hot blush creep up into my skull. I had never, never thought about a boy that way, let alone one who was right in front of me. What was wrong with me? All I could think about was seeing more of the V muscle.

"Uh…Bella? Are you okay? Do you not want to go swimming anymore?" Jake looked at me somewhat concerned. Evidently in all my ogling, I had frozen stiff, and had not made any progress towards taking off my clothes.

"Oh…uh…fine Jake! Um…just debating uh…whether I'd need um…sunscreen."

_I may possibly be the lamest person in the world right now_.

I hurried out of my tank and shorts and dove into my bag to fish out my sunscreen. I quickly slathered some cream on my arms, legs and stomach, and then remembered about my back. I was positive I was eighteen shades of red when I turned to Jake and asked, "Hey, um, do you mind getting my back?"

Jake was now the one who looked frozen as I held out the bottle to him. I quickly turned around and lifted some stray hairs off my neck. There was a moment of silence, and then I felt a big warm hand gently rubbing cream along my neck, shoulders and then down and around my back. It felt much nicer than I expected, and a small moan escaped my lips. Then I heard the bottle drop to the sand, and Jake was off running.

"Last one in has to make lunch!" I heard him holler while running towards the water at full tilt.

"No fair!" I called back. "You got a head start!" Jake didn't stop until he was waist deep in the water. I charged in after him, and when I reached the water, it was a little chilly, but much warmer than I had remembered. I bee lined for him and he scooped me out of the water, and then threw us both sideways into an oncoming wave.

Today was going to be better than I expected.


	3. Bella's Back

Okay, so I'm back to trying to update my chapters after the amazing Beta's at PTB have helped with my horrific grammar. Big thanks to Kisbydog and Theswandive for their incredible betaing skills! A big thanks to Bonnysammy for validating my story, and making sure it's easier for everyone to read!

So now - Jake's point of view! A little history on why Jake's head over heels for Bella, and his point of view on what happened at the Beach.

Legal: Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight related. I, sadly, own nothing. *single tear*

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><p>JPOV<p>

Bella Swan was moving back to Forks.

Bella Swan, the girl that I had been in love with since I was eight, was moving back to Forks. I remember the summer when it happened; Bella had been down to the Rez with her dad and was playing with Rachel and Rebecca. Rachel had thrown a mud pie at my face then yelled at me that I'd better not tattle, but Bella had quietly pulled me over to the side of the house and turned on the hose. She had gently washed all the mud off my face and out of my eyes. She dried my face with the inside of her jacket, gave me a peck on my forehead, then turned around and went back to playing with Rachel and Rebecca. I had been smitten ever since.

And now she was back, seventeen-years old and so beautiful from the pictures I had seen at Charlie's place. My teenage hormones could barely contain themselves.

I had spent hours working on the our old Chevy truck ever since Billy mentioned that Charlie may want to buy it for Bella. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her. I wanted to let her know I remembered her taking care of me. I was going to have to rein myself in or risk freaking the poor girl out. She probably didn't even remember me..

The night Bella arrived, Charlie invited us over to watch the game. When we finally got there I saw that she was more beautiful in person, and so shy. And that blush! I couldn't help but smile every time I saw her blush, wondering what she was embarrassed about. At first, she was really quiet, but by the third inning she started opening up. I wished that there was something about me that would make her comfortable enough to open up to me. A few times I sensed she wanted to say more but wouldn't, or couldn't because Charlie and Billy were there.

And then Charlie basically asked her out on a date … for me. I couldn't believe it. On one hand, I was mortified that they would pressure poor Bella to hang out with me, but on the other hand, I was soaring at the prospect of spending a day with her alone. And she didn't seem resistant or disappointed, so I took that as a good sign.

When she finally arrived at my place Saturday morning, I felt like I was on fire. I was so excited that I couldn't help but pull her into a huge hug the moment I saw her.

_Way to play it smooth, jackass. You're gonna scare her off._

But then she smiled at me, and I was elated. Bella wanted to change, so I brought her inside and showed her to the tiny bathroom. As I turned, I could hear her start to get undressed.

_Oh my god. She's getting naked in my bathroom. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it._

I all but sprinted to the fridge and started grabbing sodas and sandwiches and jamming them into the cooler. Eyeing over everything, I realised I needed a towel. And that the towel was in the linen cupboard – next to the bathroom.

_Dammit!_

Again, with more speed than necessary for our tiny house, I ran to the closet, grabbed the first towel on top, and ran back to the living room.

"Ready to go?" I asked as she walked into the living room. I needed to get out of the house; I was bouncing with nervous energy.

"Um, yeah I think so." She let me lead her to the path by my house that wove its way down to the beach. We travelled in silence, and just as I was turning to say something to her, she lurched forward with a grunt. I don't know how I did it – it was almost like it happened in slow motion, but I managed to grab her by the arm and stop her from eating gravel.

"Whoa, easy, Bella." I set her on her feet again, and she blushed. It was so beautiful to see. "Eager to get there, are we?" I realised I was touching her, and I didn't want to let go, so I grabbed her hand. "Clearly the only way to get you there in one piece is for me to hold on to you."

_God, she's so soft, and so small._

I lamely convinced myself that she needed my help, although I'm sure she would have been fine. I brought her to my favourite spot on the beach, by a big driftwood log. I reluctantly let go of her hand to set down the cooler and spread my towel out. I saw that she was doing the same, and then saw she had brought a blanket.

_Beautiful and smart._

"Great idea, Bella!" I threw my towel over the log and laid the blanket out for the both of us, then threw the cooler on top to make sure it didn't fly away while we were swimming later. I kicked off my shoes and sprawled out on the blanket. I reached for the cooler to grab us some drinks.

We sat for a while and I started fantasizing about her. Her long brown hair, her creamy skin, those huge chocolate eyes... I was starting to get really hot thinking about her. I quickly stood up, hoping it would be warm enough for her to swim now – I needed to cool off.

"Ok, Bella, it should be warm enough for you to swim now." I offered my hand to her, eager to feel her skin again. Touching her sent a flash of heat from my hand up through my arm, and down to my stomach. I hurriedly shrugged out of my shirt, hoping for some relief from the heat. I half expected Bella to do the same, but then I realised she was just standing there, bright red, not moving. I wasn't sure what to do. "Uh … Bella? Are you okay? Do you not want to go swimming anymore?" I sure as hell hoped that wasn't the case, because: a) I was going to start to get a fever soon and b) I really, really wanted to see her in her bathing suit.

"Oh … uh … fine, Jake! Um … just debating uh … whether I'd need um … sunscreen."

_Ha ha_.

That was not the response I was anticipating. I never really wore sunscreen, and it wasn't on my radar of beach-related needs. Before I was ready for it, Bella hurried out of her clothes and bent over her bag looking for sunscreen. She stood up, and I couldn't help but gawk at her. She had a dark brown bikini on, similar in colour to her hair, and her fair skin contrasted perfectly against the suit. Then she almost killed me by starting to rub the cream all over herself.

_Holy shit. Don't think about it. Think about baseball, think about the Rabbit. Do not think about this beautiful creature rubbing herse … Dammit!_

Then she did the last thing I was expecting. She turned to me and asked me the best question I had heard in my short fifteen years.

"Hey, um, do you mind getting my back?" I almost died. Right there. I stood rigid as she offered me the bottle and turned around. Then her tiny hands lifted up some stray hairs off her shoulders. I tentatively moved towards her with the bottle in my hands. I counted to five in my head before gently rubbing some of the cream on her shoulders and down her back.

_God, she felt so good._

She was so soft under my touch. I tried to make sure I was covering all of her, but I was so distracted by her skin. Then I heard a small moan. _Tada!_ Insta-Erection!

_What do I do now?_

I would be mortified if she turned around and saw my wood pointing directly at her, as if to say '_You. I want you.'_ So I did the only reasonable thing and ran as fast as I could towards the cold water, and away from the tempting goddess on the beach.

_Dammit, she's gonna think I'm crazy!_

"Last one in has to make lunch!"

_LAME! That was so lame_.

She was going to think I was a loser at this rate. But contrary to what I thought, she charged into the water after me.

"No fair!" she called after me. "You got a head start!" Then she came splashing towards me. I scooped her up into my arms and tossed us into the oncoming wave.

I may just be the luckiest guy in the world.


	4. New Friends and Townies

As I continue to submit the chaps to the amazing people at Project Team Beta, I'm happy to go back and fix all the glaring errors in my story! Big thanks to SecretlySeverus and 2Shaes for beta-ing this chap! Thank you to Bonnysammy for validating my little story and making sure it's readable.

A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! I read them all! I love your ideas, and appreciate all the feedback I've received. I don't really know what I'm doing, so I'm thankful for all your input!

Legal: SM owns all - I own nothing!

Be sure to *favourite* so you get updates when I post!

Now to the story: Initially this was two chapters, but I wanted to start having longer chapters for you to read, so this is both BPOV & JPOV.

Enjoy!

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><p>BPOV<p>

"No more!" Jake had just tossed me into another wave. "No more!" I gasped between giggles. I ran out of the water, as Jake chased me onto the beach. "I'm starting to prune." I looked at my wrinkly fingers and held them up for Jake to see. Then my stomach made a loud grumble. Jake paused for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Sure, sure. Let's get you some food and let you unprune." I sprawled onto the blanket, and Jake rummaged in the cooler and produced some fruit and sandwiches.

"PB and J, I'm impressed. And here I thought you couldn't cook." I grinned at him.

"Well, technically, there's no cooking involved with PB and J. But I do make a mean sandwich." Then he shoved half the sandwich in his mouth in one go. I shook my head and lay back on the blanket. I had been enjoying the sun so much I noticed immediately when it suddenly became blocked out. I felt a large shadow fall over us. I opened my eyes to see it was not one, but two large shadows.

"Hey, Jake, who's your friend?" I propped myself up on my elbows to see two guys looking between Jake and me with raised eyebrows, nudging each other. I glanced over to Jacob, and saw him peeking at me, gauging my reaction.

"Quil, Embry, this is Bella Swan."

"Charlie's kid right? Nice to meet you. I'm Embry Call." I sat up all the way and Embry kneeled down to shake my hand.

The other one, _who clearly must be Quil,_ sat down at the edge of the blanket.

"Quil, Quil Atera." He stuck his hand out, but it looked like he was flexing his bicep while pumping my arm up and down. I tried not to laugh out loud.

"Um, nice to meet you both." I smiled as Embry plopped down on the blanket next to Quil.

"So what brings you to our fair beach, Bella?" Quil gave me a comical look and then raised his eyebrow at me suggestively. I was having a hard time not laughing at him. Jake caught the expression on my face and smirked.

"Jake was kind enough to show me around and take me for a swim," I replied.

"That _was_ awfully kind of him."

"Yes, very kind. Our Jakey's all kinds of chivalrous." Quil and Embry shared a conspiratorial look, and then burst out laughing. Jake reached out and smacked them both upside the head.

"That's quite enough out of you two. Was there something you wanted before you decided to come over here and make asses out of yourselves?"

"Actually, Jake-y, we noticed some townies having a bonfire further down the beach, and wanted to see if you wanted to go strolling for ladies. Clearly you have er ... company, so we'll be leaving you to it then. But since I'm here, I'll just help myself to a soda ..." Jake slammed the cooler shut before Quil's hand got near it.

"I think you can manage being a pain without stealing our drinks." He moved the cooler closer to himself and then turned to look at me. "Actually, Bella, there may be some kids you'll be going to school with there. Feel like meeting them?" Jake looked down the beach, and then back at me. Gah ... meeting new people, and being the 'new girl' at school was not something I was looking forward to. I hated being the center of attention, so strolling up to a group of people I didn't know and introducing myself was not my idea of a fun afternoon activity.

"As much fun as 'strolling for ladies' sounds,"I began, interrupted by Embry snort and wink. "I think I'll save the humiliation of public introductions to large groups for September. I'm not great with crowds." I shrugged my shoulders, and I could feel my face getting hotter. But I didn't want to keep Jake from his friends. "But you should totally go Jake. I've taken up too much of your time already. I'll just head back to your place and get changed and head home." I started to stand up and Jake caught my wrist.

"Bella, don't be ridiculous. You don't have to leave. These asshats ..." He glared and Quil and Embry, who quickly got up off the blanket, "...were just leaving. Honest. We can finish our sandwiches in peace." He smiled that warm smile at me. Jacob was so...nice! He was ditching his friends and potential hook ups to keep me company. I felt so guilty.

"No, maybe you're right Jake. Maybe I should meet a few new people before school starts so I'm not overwhelmed. Promise to protect me from the 'townies'?" Quil laughed out loud.

"Uh, sorry to break it to you Bella, but _you're_ a townie." Huh, I guess I was. We all were laughing.

"How about this – we'll finish our sandwiches, then go back up to my place to change, and we'll meet up with these guys at the bonfire a little later?" I was hesitant to lose two bodies as a buffer, but realised that as long as I with Jacob, I would be alright.

"That sounds fair. It was nice meeting you guys. I um, I guess I'll see you later."

"Nice meeting you, Bella. See ya soon." Embry gave me a friendly wave as he turned to go. Quil was a little more forward.

"The pleasure was all mine, Bellll-lllllaaaa." He drew my name out into two long syllables and gave me the eyebrow again. Jake rolled his eyes as Quil took off after Embry. Jake looked at me sadly.

"I think he likes you." I rolled my eyes.

"I get the feeling he likes most girls," I snorted. Jake laughed out loud and winked at me.

"You catch on quick."

"I've been known to do that every now and again." I leaned back onto my elbows and closed my eyes, letting the sun wash over me once more. Suddenly, I was aware it was very silent. As I peeked through my eyes, Jacob's body froze as he stared at me. "Uh...Jake? Hello?" When I sat upright, it seemed to shock him out of his trance. Then he quickly grabbed the cooler and stuck it between us.

"Another PB and J, Bella?" Whatever he was spaced out about before was seemingly forgotten.

"Actually, I'm good. Why don't we head back to your place and get changed?" I stood up, started pulling my shorts back on over my suit, and threw my tank top on. Jake shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, and then helped me fold up the blanket. He scooped up the cooler and his towel in one hand and grabbed mine with the other. I couldn't help the look of surprise on my face.

"Oh. I hope this is ok." He squeezed my hand. "I didn't want you to fall, or something again." He looked a little sheepish, then let go. I unexpectedly missed his warmth.

"Surprisingly enough, I've survived this long without you," I scowled at him, but found myself reaching out for his hand, "but to be safe, it's probably for the best if you hold onto me." His face spread out into a huge smile that reached his eyes. Jacob's smile was infectious. Despite my best effort, I couldn't help but smile with him. When we got back to Jake's place, I changed into my jeans, kept my tank top on, but tied the long sleeve tee shirt around my waist. Despite promises of a bonfire, I remembered how cold it could get down by the water at night. I called Charlie's house to leave a message, but was surprised when he picked up the phone.

"Cha ... er ... Dad, what are you doing home already?"

"We caught all the fish in the river. It was a great day," he joked. I wasn't used to Charlie showing this much emotion. He was usually pretty reserved.

"Oh, hey that's great. I was calling to say I was going to go to a bonfire with Jake, but since you're home, I'll head back and make you some supper." Jake peeked his head around the corner.

"Don't be silly, Bells. I can take care of myself. Harry and I were going to go to the diner then come back here to watch the game. No sense in you hurrying home. Enjoy yourself – it's Saturday!"

_Wow_.

Catching a lot of fish sure put Charlie in a good mood.

"Um, ok. Sounds good. I'll be back later then." I hung up the receiver and looked over to Jake.

"So uh, you heading out?" He scratched the back of his head and shuffled towards me. He looked ... sad?

"Actually, as much as I'd like to escape the upcoming embarrassment of me meeting new people, you're stuck with me a little while longer." I smiled up at him. "Unless of course, you want me to go?" I was being so presumptuous that he wanted me hanging around him all day, and yet the change in his demeanour was immediate.

"No no! We'll have fun, I promise. Besides, remember, I said I'd protect you from the townies? I can't do that if you meet them all at school." Jake had put his shirt back on and had changed out of his swim shorts into cargo shorts. He reached over to me and pulled me into another hug. His shirt was black and clung to him in a way that reminded me of how he had looked earlier on the beach without a shirt.

_What was Forks doing to me? Or rather, what was Jacob doing to me_?

I hugged him back and realised yes, it was Jacob, not Forks. He had such an uncomplicated manner, and it seemed so easy to please him. He seemed eager to make sure I was okay, and I had never had anyone really look out for me before. He was really sweet. I realised we had been hugging throughout my inner monologue, and I looked up to his face. The deepest eyes were looking back at me. They were a dark brown, much darker than any other eyes I'd seen before. It was almost imperceptible where his iris traded off with his pupil. I lost all train of thought. He held my gaze for what seemed like hours, and then he whispered, "Breathe, Bella." I hadn't even realised I had been holding, until a long exhale came out. I blinked and broke the spell. Jake closed his eyes, let out a breath, and then released me. The air seemed less charged, and he fell back into his early banter.

"Ready for some townies?" he joked and led me out the door.

JPOV

Chocolate. Her eyes were the colour of a rich, sweet chocolate. I had never really appreciated chocolate before, but now I knew I'd never look at it the same way again. And her skin, her sweet, creamy skin...was turning purple. Some part of my brain registered that she shouldn't be purple.

_Bella should be creamy white...why would she be purple? _

Then I realised she had been holding her breath the whole time we were staring at each other.

"Breathe, Bella." She exhaled and that beautiful, pearl colouring came back. I wanted to reach out and touch her face. Then she blinked, and I had to jump back to reality. I closed my eyes and tried to focus.

_Bonfire, right. She's nervous, and you're not helping._

I reluctantly let her go and tried to act like nothing had happened. I hoped she bought my nonchalance. "Ready for some townies?" I led her out the door.

_Should I try for her hand again?_

I thought I had been pushing my luck last time, but this time she reached for _my_ hand, so she was not repulsed by me.

_Right?_ I tentatively threaded my fingers through hers and peeked down to see if it was okay. She wasn't looking directly at me, but she blushed a little, and didn't pull her hand away, so I guessed it was okay. I led her down to where I knew the bonfire would be.

"So Bella, what are you up to tomorrow?"

_Is this too forward?_

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Well, I really need to go the grocery store. Charlie's fridge is appallingly empty. I'm guessing he lives off of pizza and the diner." She rolled her eyes. "Hopefully I can rid him of a few bad habits while I'm here. What are you up to tomorrow?"

"I was going to work on the Rabbit. I'd like to get it done before school, and I recently got the master cylinder I was looking for." She laughed.

"I'm guessing that's some crucial part to make the car work?"

"Yeah, something like that." I chuckled. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that everyone knew things about cars. "Is shopping going to take all day, or did you want to hang out tomorrow?" She looked confused. She had this cute little indent in her forehead.

"I thought you were working on the car? Don't you have to go to an auto body shop or something for that?"

_Do I look rich? She must not get it._

"No, no, Bella. I'm working on it in our garage, behind the house. I can't afford to work on it at a shop. They charge crazy amounts of money." Her eyes went wide.

"Wow, when your dad said you fixed the truck, I figured you worked at a shop or something. That's amazing that you can do that, and in your garage." She looked really impressed.

_Sweet._

"So, did you want to hang out so I could help you? Because I have to warn you, me and tools don't really go together well."

_She wanted to help? Does that mean she does want to hang out? I'm clearly out of my league here._

"Oh, um...no. I thought you might just like to um...hang out, while I worked on it. Quil and Embry stop by all the time, and we just chat while I work on the car. But that probably sounds really lame to you, right? Why would you want to just sit there and talk to me, super boring, stupid of me to ask..." I was rambling incoherently. I stopped when she reached over with her other hand and touched my arm.

"I'd love to hang out tomorrow. It sounds like fun. I'll swing by after I'm done at Charlie's if that's ok with you?" I beamed at her.

"That's perfect. Besides you shouldn't have to rely on me to fix the truck. Maybe you'll pick something up. Autoshop 101?" She laughed. I would never get tired of hearing her laughter.

"Sure. We can start my automotive repair education." She rolled her eyes. We were almost at the ring of logs now. I saw Quil and Embry chatting up some 'townie' girls and Sam and his 'gang' off to one side. When we approached, Quil caught sight of us. I noticed Bella shifting slightly behind my frame.

"Bella, it's been ages! How have you been?" Quil bounded over to us like it had been years, not hours, since he saw us last. Embry stood up and came over to say hi.

"Jake, Bella." He nodded. Bella nodded back at both of them.

"Hey guys." I noticed the girls that they left were all whispering to each other. Bella noticed too. One of the girls, with super curly hair, decided to come up and join us.

"Hi, I'm Jessica. I don't think we've met. Do you go to the Rez school?" She looked at Bella, then looked at me, then looked at our intertwined hands. She raised her eyebrow expectantly and then stuck out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan." Bella meekly reached out and took her hand.

"Oh, Chief Swan's daughter! I heard you were coming to live here. How long have you been here for? Are you going to be coming to Forks High? You're a senior right? I'm a senior too! Maybe we'll have some classes together. Wouldn't that be awesome?" Bella hesitated at the Spanish Inquisition.

"Yeah, I'll be a senior, and I'm going to Forks High." I noticed she hadn't answered all the questions, but Jessica didn't seem to.

"Oh my gosh – I'll totally show you around. We'll be such good friends! Come meet everyone. I'll totally let you know who you should and shouldn't talk to at school." She started pulling Bella towards a larger group of people. I felt Bella's other hand tighten around mine. She looked up at me pleadingly. I squeezed her hand back to let her know I'd be right beside her. "Hey everyone – this is Bella Swan. You know, the Chief's daughter. She'll be starting school with us in September. And this is...oh – I never got your name?"

"Jacob." I looked at Bella surprised, as she offered my name before I could.

"Anyways, Bella, this is Lauren, Angela and Ben." She pointed to the girls she had been sitting with, and the one guy sitting with them, holding Angela's hand. "And over there is Mike, Eric and Tyler. We're all seniors." I immediately noticed that the three guys were eyeing Bella up and down. It wasn't subtle. One of them stood up.

"Hi, Bella. I'm Mike Newton." He came over and offered his hand to her. Jessica looked like she was going to shoot sparks from her eyes. Bella quickly shook his hand, then dropped it.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Jessica continued on her tirade and not so subtly shuffled back in between Mike and Bella. Mike went and sat back down. We sat down and took up a log across from them. Quil and Embry went and resumed their previous seats. I noticed Sam watching us from across the fire.

"So Bella, you moved here from Arizona right?"

_How did Jessica know so much? I guess town gossips start young._

"It must be awesome to have so much sun all the time. Today was a real treat for us, it almost never gets this warm."

_Did she ever allow time for people to answer the questions she asked?_

She looked across at Mike, then back at Bella. "So, is Jake your boyfriend?" She said it loud enough that everyone heard.

_What a bitch. Who asks that so bluntly?_

Maybe I was overreacting because I knew Bella was so shy, but this girl was into Mike and staking her claim. That seemed obvious.

"Um..." Bella turned bright red.

"Actually, Bella and I are just really good friends. We have been for years." Okay, I was stretching the truth a little on the years part, but I didn't think Bella would mind. She shot me a grateful smile and squeezed my hand.

"Oh." Jessica sounded surprised, eyeing our hands. "Well you guys seem... close." She looked over at Mike, who had been leaning into our conversation since I had said we were just friends.

_Oops. Way to go idiot. Now he thinks he has a shot._

"Even though it's like a month away, you should totally bring him to the Homecoming Dance." I felt Bella tense next to me. Then Jessica turned to Lauren. "Ooh – do you know what you're wearing yet?" This girl must have had ADHD. She was all over the place. I leaned into Bella and whispered in her ear.

"Hey Bells, no worries. You don't have to take me." I didn't want her to think I expected her to bring me now. She leaned into me to reply.

"Oh Jake, it's not that. I um...I just don't dance. I've never been to one and hadn't really planned on starting now... what with the clumsiness and all." She shrugged at me, and I laughed. Then I saw Mike watching our exchange with some interest. I leaned in again.

"This must be a big day for you. First Quil, now Mike." I nodded my head towards Newton and his friends. They seemed to be having some silent argument, my guess was over who got to hit on Bella. Bella blushed again.

"This is beyond bizarre. It must just be because I'm new here. Some novelty that I hope will wear off soon. I can assure you, no one paid any attention to me in Phoenix. I'm nothing special." She looked so perplexed. I couldn't believe she thought of herself that way. She was gorgeous and sweet. Of course everyone here was eyeing her. She had long chestnut hair. Her eyelashes brushed her cheeks when she looked down. She had perfect skin. She was stunning.

"You're special to me."

_Oh god. Shit, shit shit!. Did I just say that out loud? When did I turn into a Hallmark card?_

"Jake, you're such a cornball." She swatted at my arm and started giggling.

"So Bella, do you know what you're going to wear?" Jessica had her focus on Bella again. Bella looked up, alarmed.

"Wear? Oh yeah, the dance. Um...no...no thoughts on what to wear. It's so far away still, maybe I'll think about it closer to the day, or something." Bella was rambling, it was so cute.

"I don't know what I'm going to wear either." A girl shyly joined in. She was holding hands with the boy next to her. "Maybe we can go together to find something?" She offered.

'That would be really nice. Thanks!" Bella beamed at her.

"Well Bella, if you don't want to bring your '_friend_' we could all just go as a big group. We'll make sure you always have someone to dance with." Mike piped up from his spot on the log. Jessica shot Mike a withering glare as her mouth popped open at his suggestion.

"Oh, um, er, that's a nice suggestion, Mike. I'll think about it." Then she looked between Mike and Jessica, and I could tell she had already decided that she wouldn't be going at all. Someone produced several packages of hot dogs, and the conversations quieted down into smaller groups as people began turning their sticks in the fire. I could feel Bella relax as she leaned into me, her eyes mesmerized by the fire. Mike noticed as well.

"Bella have you see a driftwood fire before? The yellow and green flames are from the salt in the wood." Mike tossed another piece of driftwood on the fire to emphasize his point. Jessica looked up and frowned, then leaned over to a blonde girl, _Lauren or Angela maybe? I couldn't remember her name_, and whispered something. They both looked over to Bella.

"Wow, it's really pretty. That's cool, thanks for showing me." She smiled at Mike, and Jessica and the blonde girl then dissolved into a fit of whispers. Mike smiled back, completely oblivious to Jessica. I handed Bella her hot dog, hoping she wouldn't notice the girls' rude behaviour and Mike went back to talking to the guys around him. "Thanks Jake. Again, I'm impressed by your mad cooking skills." Bella smirked.

"Well, it's true that hot dogs at least have to be cooked, but the fire does most of the work. I just turn the stick." I over exaggerated turning the stick, happy to play along with her.

"My hot dog is very evenly cooked. No burnt spots at all."

"You should see me with marshmallows. I pretty much have it down to an art form." I winked at her.

"I believe it." She grinned widely at me. Quil and Embry were not oblivious to our conversation. Quil leaned over to me and started batting his eyes.

"Jake, would you make me a special, evenly cooked hot dog? Mine come out burnt on one end. I'll love you forever." Then he started making kissy faces at me. I shoved his face away with my palm. Embry started hooting with laughter. I peeked over to see Bella's reaction, but she was bent over laughing with Embry. "Ok Jake, if you want to let me die from carcinogen poisoning, it's on your head."

"I'm considering it, Quil. It might save me a lot of headaches in the future." Quil clutched at his heart.

"Jake, I'm hurt. You cut me deep, man." I tossed him the hot dog I was currently cooking. He caught it with his free hand.

"Here, don't die. Give me your disaster, and I'll see if I can save it." He threw the other stick back. Bella had stopped laughing and watched our exchange. Her eyes grew wide as she was watching the sticks. "What's wrong, Bella?" Her eyes snapped up to mine.

"Nothing. I was just expecting the sticks to fall hot dog first in the sand. Hanging out with you is going to give me a complex." She shrugged her shoulders, smiled, and took another bite of her hot dog. I liked the sound of her hanging out with me. I hoped we'd be doing it a lot.

Five hot dogs later I decided that should be enough. I didn't want to seem like a pig in front of Bella. After the fifth hot dog and two more sodas she shook her head at me. "Where do you put it all?"

"Hey, I don't have a car yet remember? I live a healthy lifestyle that requires lots of fuel." I winked at her.

"Sure you do. Why do I get the feeling you're not even full?" She raised her eyebrow at me. I leaned into her and teased her.

"Well, I'm not hungry per se, but I guess I'm not starving either. I'll just have to make do." She was about to say something else when I noticed Sam stand up and eye me, Embry and Quil. Paul and Jared were on either side of him. Embry noticed too and caught my eye. Their whole tribe protector thing was weird, and I wasn't about to let them come over and try to recruit me with Bella here. "Hey Bells, you all done? You want to head back now?" She stood up from the log and stretched a little. Her shirt lifted up a bit, and I saw a sliver of her creamy white skin. I saw Mike's head whip around and notice too.

"That sounds great, Jake." Embry and Quil stood too, wary of Sam's gaze.

"We'll head back with you guys." Embry turned to the group. "Goodnight, everyone." Mike stood up when he heard we were leaving.

"Oh, Bella, are you leaving so soon?" She looked over to Mike, and then up at me.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to Charlie. It was really nice to meet you all." She did a small wave at the group.

_God she was so cute._

"Hopefully we'll see you again really soon." Mike winked at her and smiled. I didn't like the way he was leering at her. I wanted to get up and pound his face in. I could have probably taken him too. I was going through a crazy growth spurt and was easily bigger than him.

_Chill Jake. She's not your girlfriend. She's a senior, you're a sophomore. Why would she want to date you? _

That sad realisation snapped me back to reality. But then as we were leaving, Bella grabbed my hand.

_Okay, maybe she does like you?_

By the time we were back to my place, I was pretty confused about where I stood with her. I helped her load everything into her truck.

"Thanks for the great day, Jake. I had a lot of fun. See you tomorrow for my exciting introduction to auto mechanics?" She grinned up at me. I couldn't wait.

"I think you'll make an excellent pupil," I joked at her. Then I pulled her in for another hug. I could not get enough of her.

"Air, Jake!" She gasped. I laughed and released her. I stood in front of my house watching her taillights disappear around the corner. I had forgotten Quil and Embry were there until I heard them chuckling.

"He's got it bad." Embry shook his head.

"That's an understatement," Quil laughed. "He's already pussy whipped, and they're not even dating."

"What are you jackasses talking about?" They looked at me like I was stupid.

"You should totally hit that. She's into you, and you are clearly into her." Quil looked over to me expectantly, daring me to deny it.

"Yeah, I like her, but Bella and I are just friends."

_I think. _

"Besides she's been here like two days. I doubt she's looking to hook up." They weren't helping my already confused brain.

"Well you should do something before she goes back to school. That Newton guy looked like he wanted to dry hump her next to the fire."

_Yeah. I noticed that too._


	5. Dream a Little Dream

Thanks again to the folks over at Project Team Beta for their help in fixing my terrible grammatical errors. Commas are the bane of my existence! Thanks to Lyta7 and Batgirl8968 for their amazing beta skills! Thanks to Bonnysammy for her validating my story.

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><p>Chapter 5 – Dream a Little Dream<p>

BPOV

When I pulled up to the house I could see the light on in the living room. Harry's truck was still here, so I guessed they were still watching the game. I parked the truck and grabbed my bag, then let myself into the house.

"How was your day, Bells?" Charlie called from the living room. I sauntered in to find him and Harry parked in front of the flat screen. "You remember Harry Clearwater, Bella?" Harry smiled and nodded in my direction.

"Of course, nice to see you again, Harry." I nodded back at Harry respectfully. "It was great, dad. We had fun at the beach, and I even met some of my future classmates. All in all, a very full day." I smiled at them both and headed towards the stairs. "I'm gonna get ready for bed. You need anything?" Both of their eyes were trained back on the tv.

"Nah, Bells, the game is almost over." So I headed into my room, and dumped my bag on the floor. By the time I was done brushing and showering, Charlie was just seeing Harry to the door. He spotted me at the top of the stairs in my pajamas. "So, you had fun with Jake then?" He seemed a little too interested. I eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah, we went swimming and then to a bonfire. I'm heading over there tomorrow to see the car that he's building. That is, after I stop by the store and get groceries. Honestly, don't you eat?" I admonished. Charlie just chuckled.

"I've taken care of myself for seventeen years, Bells. I get by ok. That reminds me, I left some money on the table for groceries. Don't get anything too fancy." He paused a moment then looked up at me. "So you're hanging out with Jake again tomorrow?" he asked a little too casually.

"Yeah, is that ok? I thought you said you were working. I can stay if you want to do something." I looked down at him confused.

"No no, Bells. I am working. Just glad you've made such a good friend to keep you company." He raised his eyebrows at me. "Jake's a good kid. He takes good care of his dad. Not a mean bone in his body." I smiled at his statement.

"I noticed. He's really nice, very friendly." I was sort of rambling. I wasn't sure what to say.

"Why don't you invite Jake and Billy over for dinner tomorrow? You can tell us old men about what young people are up to lately." Charlie's eyes shimmered a bit.

"Why do I get the feeling that you and Billy spoke already, and this is another not so subtle setup?" Charlie flushed pink.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Bella. But if sometime down the line, you and Jake started dating, neither Billy nor I would disapprove." Charlie chuckled to himself. I flushed red.

"Uh dad, can we not talk about boys? It's weird. Besides, isn't Jake younger than me? How old is he anyways?" I was not prepared for his answer.

"Jake's fifteen." My eyes bugged out of my head.

_He doesn't look fifteen. The fifteen year olds in Phoenix didn't look like that. Honestly, the twenty year olds didn't look like that._

"Fifteen? Dad, that would make me a cougar or something; I'll be eighteen in just over a month." Charlie frowned, clearly displeased with my reaction.

"I already told you, Bella, Jake's very grown-up for his age. Taking care of his dad has matured him. Your mother's always saying you have an old soul. You guys seemed to get along really well." I shifted uneasily. Charlie was right. We got along well. Being with Jake was so easy, like breathing. And he was beautiful.

_Did I want to date him? _

I'd never dated before, so I had no idea. I felt something ... but I had no idea what it was. Add to that my dad trying to hook us up and I felt utterly mystified.

"Right, well, so far I'm just going to hang out with him. Don't start planning a wedding anytime soon." I tried to laugh it off, but this conversation had gotten into really awkward territory. "Anyways, goodnight, dad." I turned back into my room, and crawled under my covers. I lay in bed, not really thinking, but going over the day's events in my head.

Judging by my gawking, I was attracted to Jake. This was new for me; I barely registered the guys I went to school with in Phoenix. My nose was usually stuck in a book. I decided not to worry too much about it because even if I thought Jake was beautiful, it was highly unlikely that he felt that way about pale, skinny me, despite being fifteen. But then I remembered us staring into each other's eyes in his house and thought that maybe he did. I fell asleep thinking about Jacob Black.

I opened my eyes and my room was still dark, except for the moonlight shining in through my window. My alarm clock said it was 3:27AM I went to roll over but noticed a shadow in front of my window. My first instinct was to be alarmed, but I couldn't move my body. As my eyes came into focus, I saw the outline of a tall man. He was facing the window, but upon hearing me move he turned his head over his shoulder to look at me. The movement made the muscles in his shoulders and upper back ripple in the moonlight, despite the long black hair hanging down over them.

My body visibly relaxed as I exhaled a long breath, my body clearly recognizing what my mind could not. His broad shoulders turned the rest of the way around allowing me to gaze at his strong torso, with lean, sculpted abs. Even in the faint light, the definition of his muscles was noticeable. As before, my eyes were drawn to the deep V just below his hipbone. He stalked over to my bed and as he moved, he made no noise. When he reached the foot of my bed, I expected him to stop, but he crawled onto the bed on all fours until he was hovering over my body. He dipped his head down towards me and sniffed from my ear, down my jaw line to my collarbone. I looked up at him and noticed his eyes darken, if that were even possible.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, a part of me was screaming to get up and run to the door, but I couldn't. I wanted to be here. I wanted to know what he would do next. I tentatively reached up, and saw his eyes watch my hand. I traced the muscles up his arm, up to his shoulder then down to his chest. His skin was soft, but everything under it was firm. I could feel the power that lay just beneath his skin. He tilted back and rested on his legs, kneeling on either side of me. My hands ghosted down his chest to his rock hard abs. I heard a rumbling in his chest as he closed his eyes. Then before I knew what I was doing I sat up on my knees and was all over him. My mouth crashed down on his, while my hands trailed all over his body, running across his stomach, then around to his back, pulling him into me. The heat between us was incredible. He was everywhere, warming me with his scorching body and big hands. _More_. I wanted him touching me more. His hands moved over my bottom and gripped my thighs, lifting me up. He pulled me up to him so I could wrap my legs around him, then not so gently, lowered me back onto the bed, his lips never leaving my body. I could feel his hot mouth on mine, my neck, my ear, my shoulder...I was hot. So hot. I went to pull off my tank top and I awoke, tangled in my sheets sweating.

_What the hell was that?_ _Holy crow!_

I had a hot and heavy dream about Jacob! I felt like a perv. A cougary perv, who was lusting after her dad's best friend's fifteen year old son. Albeit he didn't look fifteen, but still. I clearly remember dreaming about Jacob, well more accurately Jacob's body.

_Dammit, he's fifteen! What was wrong with me?_

And the sexy dream? Well that was new. I sighed, got out of bed and headed to the bathroom for my morning routine, and maybe a cold shower.

After grabbing some breakfast, I headed out to the Thriftway. Since Charlie had next to no food, I had a lot of things I needed to get and my cart was quite full. I paid for all the groceries and pushed the cart out towards my truck, unloading the bags into the bed. As I was lifting the last bag, I heard a _rip_, and cans of tomato sauce, soup and kidney beans went clambering all over the parking lot.

_Shit. _

I shouldn't have been surprised. Things like that happened to me often. As I bent down to pick up the cans, I accidently nudged the cart with my foot and it went careening across the parking lot, and slammed into a silver Volvo that had just pulled into a spot.

_Oh for the love. Could I do nothing right?_

I threw the cans loosely into the truck bed and ran over to the cart.

"I am SO sorry!" I grabbed the cart and pulled it away looking for signs of damage. It looked like there was a scratch or dent on the passenger side back bumper from my ineptness. I barely noticed two figures emerge from the car. I could feel my blush creeping way past my hairline. This was beyoned embarrassing. "The bag broke, and then there were cans falling, and I went to pick them up and the cart got away." I realised I was rambling and they probably didn't care about my accident proneness, they were probably worried about the car. "I swear I'll pay to have it fixed." I hoped that Jake offered his services cheaply, because I doubt edI had enough to pay a real shop to fix it.

I looked up from the damage to see a young man and young woman looking at me. They were both the most beautiful people I had ever seen.

_Did supermodels shop at Thriftway?_

The girl had a glazed look over her face, like she wasn't looking at me directly. The boy had walked around the car to join her and looked at me. Or more precisely he was glaring. I had never seen a more beautiful or scary face. His features were perfect and strongly defined. His eyes were coal black and much darker than Jacob's and were piercing into me. I hesitantly stepped back from the waves of fury rolling off of him.

_If looks could kill...I guess he really likes his car. _

He reached his hand up and pulled on his already tousled hair.

_What's the term? Sex hair?_

The action lifted up the corner of his shirt and I saw one side of that V muscle.

_Why, hello there V muscle. Apparently you're quite populous in little Forks. What do they put in the water here?_

I don't know how but my face got even hotter.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered my apology again. The girl seemed to snap out of her daze and grabbed his arm, almost like she was going to restrain him. It seemed laughable, she was not even five feet tall, very slight and had cute spiky hair. The thought of her restraining anyone seemed unlikely.

"Don't worry about it!" She flashed me a brilliant smile and stepped closer, putting herself between me and the boy. His head snapped towards her and he looked confused for a moment. "It's just a scratch, nothing really. Our sister will take a look at it when we get home. She loves to fix cars." The boy was back to glaring at me. I couldn't help but feel he did not think it was 'nothing'.

"Are you sure? My friend fixes cars too, I don't mind. I feel awful." I glanced behind her to her angry looking brother. She looked back at him and laughed.

"Positively sure! My name is Alice, Alice Cullen." She stuck out her hand and started shaking mine. Her hand was cold–I guess they must have been blazing the air conditioning in the car. My truck had the old 'roll down the window and air whipping by' version of A/C. "The grumpy one back there is my brother Edward." He nodded in my direction, his eyes still locked on me. "So you're new in town?" I looked up at her surprised, and she laughed. "It's a small town. New people are big news. We moved here two years ago." She gave a little shrug of her shoulders.

"Uh yeah. I'm Bella Swan. Nice to meet you. I'm really sorry about the car." She laughed again, and it sounded like bells twinkling.

"Please don't worry about it. Are you going to be going to school here in September?" She was like a little ball of energy. I could almost feel her vibrating.

"Yeah, I'll be starting Forks High as a senior." She jumped up and down.

"We're seniors too! Isn't that great? Maybe we'll have classes together!" Just then Edward shot her another look. I took that as my cue to leave.

"Maybe. Anyways, sorry again. I should get back. Should I give you my information or something in case you change your mind?" I started rummaging in my bag for a pen.

"Please, Bella, don't worry about it. Hopefully we'll see you at school!" She flashed me a big smile full of dazzling white teeth. I turned and pushed the cart back towards the store. I glanced behind me to see Alice and Edward having some kind of silent argument. I hoped Alice won; she seemed much nicer than her gorgeous, but frightening brother.

I managed to make it home, and unpacked the groceries in the kitchen without further incident. After setting aside everything I'd need to make lasagna tonight, I got in the car and headed to Jake's. I wasn't sure how I felt about going to see him.

_Apprehensive? Eager? Like a cougar? Maybe puma was more accurate, that's what they called cougars in training right? Wait, was I in training?_

I was undecided as I pulled up to his tiny red house. Just as I stopped, I saw Jake run around the corner.

"Heya, Bells! I was wondering when you'd get here." He flashed me his perfect smile, and as usual I responded with my own. I couldn't help it. When Jake was happy, I was happy. It was like he was contagious.

"Sorry, I had an incident at the Thriftway." He smirked. "Jake, be honest. How much does it cost to repair dents and scratches on cars?" I was so worried that Edward would change Alice's mind and hunt me down with a bill. Jake eyed the monster of a truck I had.

"I dunno, Bells. If your truck hit a car, I think there'd be a little more than a scratch."

_What? _

"Huh? No, my driving is perfectly fine, thank you." I poked him in the arm. "My cart got away from me and dented another car. It left a mark, but they told me not to worry about it. I want to know roughly how much it would cost to fix in case they change their mind." He smiled gently at me.

"And thus begins our first lesson in automotive repair," he said solemnly. I rolled my eyes at him.

"How much smarty pants?" I put my hands on my hips to emphasize my seriousness. He laughed casually.

"Not much, Bells, but I guess it depends on the car. Usually you can just use some touch up paint and clear nail polish. Who was it? Maybe I can go smooth things over for you." He chuckled at his own joke.

"It was a silver Volvo, and a girl named Alice Cullen. Do you know her?" Jake stopped smiling.

"No. I don't know her. I know of her. I wouldn't worry much further, Bella. If she said it was ok, it's ok. They're loaded. She'll probably just buy a new car." I wasn't used to seeing Jake so serious. "Why are you so worried if she said it was ok?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Her brother looked pissed. In fact he looked like he wanted to kill me. It was kinda strange." Jake looked visibly upset now. I didn't like that I had upset him, he was usually so easy going.

"Wait, are you saying a Cullen looked like he wanted to kill you?" His eyes flashed. I needed to calm Jake down.

"Jake, I highly doubt he would have actually killed me over what you are saying is an easy fix to a car. He just looked pissed. No biggie. Alice wasn't mad at all." Jake looked at me like he was trying to decide something.

"Okay, Bells. Just do me a favour and avoid them. Some people on the Rez don't like the Cullens. There are old stor ... let's just say people don't like them and leave it at that." I was about to ask what the old stories were, but I wanted happy Jake back, so thought better of it, and tried to distract him.

"So, are we going to start my lesson now then?"

EPOV

The school charade was one thing. Alice and I would dutifully be attending our senior year at Forks High this fall. Graduating for what seemed like the one hundredth time. It was actually only my twenty seventh time graduating high school (_thank you perfect vampire recall_), but it was still tedious business. However, the grocery shopping charade was entirely different. We don't eat food. We don't even like to pretend to eat food, so why buy food? It seemed like such a waste. Occasionally one of us would drive it out to Tacoma or Seattle and drop it off at a shelter, but still ... the grocery store was dreary and held no interest. The minds of the people in the grocery store were boring and unoriginal. Nobody did any serious thinking at the grocery store.

Alice was chatting away animatedly about her planned shopping trip for back to school clothes when I pulled into the Thriftway. Just as I put the car into park I heard a crash at the back rear bumper.

_Great. Well Rosalie has an excuse to work on my car now. _

I got out of the car with Alice to tell the poor human that it was no trouble. As I was walking around the front of the car to go stand by Alice, the breeze shifted and I was assaulted with the most delicious fragrance I had ever smelled. It was the perfect balance of the most savoury fruit and flowers. It smelled like freesia and strawberries, and it was irresistible. My mouth completely filled with venom. I felt my eyes darken and instinctively moved toward the scent. I never knew a scent like this could exist. If I had, I would have gone looking for it. I had to taste her.

_Edward, NO!_

I heard Alice screaming at me in my mind. I quickly saw the vision in her head of me attacking this girl in full view of the entire parking lot. I didn't care.

_Edward, PLEASE, hold your breath. NO!_

Alice was begging me with her eyes. I looked over to the small, frail girl who was prattling on about cans and bags. Her blood was rising to her skin, taunting me with its proximity. Alice had three more concurrent visions so fast they were just like flashes.

_Flash_. Alice and this girl arm in arm.

_Flash_. Alice and this girl arm in arm, but the girl was like us. Pale, beautiful. yellow eyes. A vampire.

_Flash_. The girl as a human again, then blackness. Nothing.

"I'm so sorry," the girl whispered. And she should be sorry. She was like a demon from my own personal hell here to torment me, to make me atone for my many sins. Alice reached out and touched my arm. I glared at her.

_Please, Edward. Don't. Please. For me. For Carlisle._

I heard Alice's voice in my head and she looked up at me and begged. She turned to the girl.

"Don't worry about it!" Alice subtly moved between the girl and I. I wonder if she had any idea how lucky she was that Alice was here. Alice called out to me again. _Please, Edward. I'm going to love her. She's going to be my friend. Please._ My head snapped towards my favourite sister in surprise. _Friend? _We were going to befriend a human? We were usually so careful to avoid humans at all cost. She continued on to the girl.

"It's just a scratch, nothing really. Our sister will take a look at it when we get home. She loves to fix cars." I looked back at this small creature, irate that she could swoop in and alter our lives so completely.

_How dare she make me want her. How dare she jeopardize our carefully cultivated facade. Friend? I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from her. How was I supposed to be her friend?_

"Are you sure? My friend fixes cars too, I don't mind. I feel awful."

She looked over Alice's shoulder to me. Alice followed her gaze. She was so heartfelt in her request. _Please, Edward. Don't._ The change in her voice between her appeal of me, and the conversation with the girl would be laughable, if I wasn't so torn.

"Positively sure! My name is Alice, Alice Cullen." Alice reached out and shook the girl's hand. "The grumpy one back there is my brother Edward." I nodded in acknowledgement of my name. "So you're new in town?" The girl looked up surprised. I tried to read her mind to see why, but I saw nothing. I heard nothing from her. Alice laughed. "It's a small town. New people are big news. We moved here two years ago." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"Uh yeah. I'm Bella Swan. Nice to meet you. I'm really sorry about the car." Swan. As in the Police Chief's daughter. I knew where her house was. I strained to hear her mind while she was talking. Nothing. Complete silence.

"Please don't worry about it. Are you going to be going to school here in September?"

"Yeah, I'll be starting Forks High as a senior."

_Maybe she would. Maybe she wouldn't make it that long._

I was thinking of ways to lure her from her house.

"We're seniors too! Isn't that great? Maybe we'll have classes together!" Alice was jumping up and down and started screaming in my head.

_Edward Anthony Masen Cullen! Don't you dare!_ I shot Alice a look.

"Maybe. Anyways, sorry again. I should get back. Should I give you my information or something in case you change your mind?" The girl started rifling through her bag.

"Please, Bella, don't worry about it. Hopefully we'll see you at school!" She turned to push her cart back towards the store, and Alice turned on me. "Edward, please, let's go find Carlisle." I didn't want to leave. I wanted to smell her again. I wanted to know why I couldn't hear her. I wanted ... I wanted to devour her. I exhaled the long breath I had been holding since I first smelled her delicious scent. Alice grabbed both my hands, and looked me in earnest. "Edward, think of your family. Think of how this would uproot us. Think of how you would disappoint Carlisle." She was right. I wouldn't want to disappoint my mentor. He was the only father figure I had known for the last eighty years. I sighed and got back into the car.

We drove home in silence. I was so ashamed of my behaviour and myself. I couldn't believe I almost sacrificed everything we all had been working for, for one small human. But every time I thought of her scent, I almost turned the car around so I could track her down. Alice was speaking quickly into her cell phone, asking that my family meet us at home. What would I tell them?

_Oh, I encountered a human that made me forget the last 80 years of abstaining from human blood. I'm just going to go lure her from her home so I can have the most delectable meal of my miserable existence. Don't wait up. _

Alice's eyes glazed over, then she looked at me.

"Don't be so dramatic, Edward. It wasn't as bad as you're making it out to be."

"Wasn't it, Alice? What do you think would have happened if you weren't there? If anything I'm downplaying what could have happened." I took an unnecessary breath to calm myself. It helped being in my car that only smelled of me and my siblings. I dreaded the thought of taking another breath outside, where I might smell _her_. I pulled up the long drive, and was hit by my family's thoughts suddenly. Concern emanated from all of them. Alice had not gone into details, just asking that we have a family meeting. We moved inside at vampire speed to find my family around the dining room table. Suddenly I was so ashamed, and had an overwhelming desire to be anywhere but here. Jasper took in my emotional climate and seemed taken aback. Alice skipped over to his side, and joined him at the table.

"Edward, what is it?" Esme glanced between Jasper and myself, and looked stricken.

"Please, son, tell us why you've requested us here." Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder, and looked into my eyes. I had to look away. I went to sit in the chair next to Carlisle.

"I ... I was tempted today." I blurted out. Emmett guffawed.

"Dude, we're all tempted every day. Hardly necessary to call in the cavalry." Emmett seemed oblivious to my inner turmoil. Jasper gave me a sympathetic look.

"No." I tried to continue. I wanted to explain it right, to ask for their forgiveness. "No. I was more than tempted. Had Alice not been there, I would have taken that girl in the parking lot of the store. Her scent …" my voice faltered as my mouth filled with venom from thinking of her scent. "I've never ... the smell ... could have ruined everything ... I'm so sorry ... I put us all in jeopardy. I think I should go away for awhile. I'm so confused." I ran my hands through my hair, and pulled at the roots. Almost in unison, six voices in my head shouted 'NO'.

"Son," Carlisle started, "You have always made us proud. Even now, though you were tempted, your thoughts go to your family, to keeping us safe. The whole family will leave if you find you cannot resist. The decision is yours." I looked around the table at my siblings. Rosalie was looking down and Alice was avoiding my eyes.

"Carlisle. There's something more you should know. I had a vision, well three actually. Bella and I will be great friends if we stay, either as a human or ... " Alice looked at me for approval. I looked away, now avoiding eye contact with her, "... or as one of us. But if we leave, her future goes black. I can't see her. I think we should stay." She looked back at me beseechingly.

"Alice, what do you mean one of us? You know that would violate the treaty with Quileutes." Carlisle seemed very concerned now. "Can you see how the transformation is brought about?"

_Maybe we should leave now. This could get very serious, very quickly. _I could hear the inner turmoil in him.

"My vision didn't show me much, they were more like quick flashes," Alice spoke quickly now.

"And the blackness? Are you sure that's if we leave? It's not her ... dying?"

_I'm sorry Edward, I need to know. _Carlisle apologized to me privately.

"No. I'm not sure," Alice said so quietly that human ears would not have heard it. "It was very strange. Not so much like the end of her life, more like an absence of the vision. I've never experienced anything like it."

"Edward, can you describe to me exactly what happened? It may help in your decision making to go through the events again." Carlisle turned his full attention to me, his golden eyes staring into mine.

"I'm not sure. I got out of the car, and the wind shifted. She was the most appealing scent I've ever encountered, exponentially more than any other human. I hadn't known such a scent could exist, I can't explain the appeal ... " Jasper shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Knowing he could sense my desire for her, I immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry, Jasper. This must be torture for you. Why don't you go hunting? I won't make a decision until you return." Jasper nodded gratefully, and stood to leave. Alice and Emmett went to join him. Esme stayed on Carlisle's other side and Rosalie sat unmoving on her left. "I have no explanation for how she smelled, or how I resisted her. As I mentioned before, if not for Alice, I could have ruined everything here." Carlisle stood up.

"I'll be back in a moment. Please wait here a moment, I want to retrieve a journal from my study." He flew up the stairs, and returned seconds later. He skimmed threw the book, found the page he was searching for, and lay it down in front of me. "Edward, I think you encountered your blood singer." I looked down at the journal entry. It was dated from the time Carlisle stayed with the Volturi in Italy.

_... In one of our many discussions regarding my choice of sustenance, Aro asked if I had ever encountered my "La Tua Cantante," my singer. Having never heard of the term before, Aro elaborated for me. "The blood of your singer calls to you. Her blood sings out a song that cannot be ignored by you." He suggested that if I were ever to meet my singer, I may not be able to maintain my chosen diet ..._

"I don't understand, Carlisle. Are you saying it's inevitable? That I will feed on her?" Rosalie read the journal entry in no time. Carlisle smiled at me.

"No, Edward, I'm saying the opposite. You already resisted her. Once again, you have shown us what you are capable of. I'm proud of you, son." Rosalie looked up at me and smiled a little.

"I think Emmett met his singer once, maybe twice. He didn't even hesitate. Remember?" I thought back to when Emmett had told us that he had slipped up many years ago. Initially I had written it off to the fact he was young at the time. But the words came back to me now. '_She had smelled better than I had ever thought possible.'_ Was this the same thing?

"Edward?" Rosalie was looking at me across the table. "I don't want to tempt you, but I would very much like to stay in Forks. We almost get to be normal here. It's ... it's a nice change." Of course Rosalie was thinking of what she would like. Did she not understand what this was like for me? "Perhaps there are some precautions we can take? Extra hunting?"

"Rosalie," Carlisle warned." This will be difficult enough for your brother without any extra guilt. While you are making some good suggestions, please let Edward decide what he wishes to do first."

I looked at my sister, and then my father and mother. Esme looked so distraught. I didn't want to be the one causing her to feel this way. I didn't want to be the one disappointing my family.

"No. I appreciate the suggestions. I don't want to leave either. I would like to try. I want to stay in Forks."

And so my decision was made.


	6. I Can't Fight This Feeling

Huge thanks to the team over at PTB – especially daniwerner & thalia-csiny for betaing this chap. Another thank you shout out to Bonnysammy for validating my story. She makes my story readable, because I am formatting incapable.

Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight related. I simply play with her characters. Also REO Speedwagon own their music - I just like to karaoke.

So up next - back to Bella's POV and the magic of old school rock!

Chapter 6 – I Can't Fight This Feeling

* * *

><p>BPOV<p>

My automotive education proceeded slowly, but Jacob was a patient teacher. Mostly, I just watched as Jacob pointed things out to me. Even though the subject held no real interest for me, I enjoyed the time I spent with him. Charlie was ecstatic that I was taking an interest in the upkeep of my truck. Although it was a gift from him, he was concerned with my ability to maintain it, and was hopeful I wouldn't need to call Jacob for every little thing. As it was, I did spend every day with Jacob, so perhaps Charlie's concern was misplaced. Jake wouldn't have let me try to fix anything in my truck if there was a real problem with it.

On Friday, like clockwork, the phone rang at ten AM.

"Hello." I smiled, knowing it was Jacob.

"Your place or mine today?" Jacob chuckled into the phone. We had spent the two weeks since my arrival doing a variety of things at both of our houses. While we mostly hung out at Jake's garage with Quil and Embry dropping by periodically, we had also been heading to the beach when it was sunny and coming here to watch the flat screen when it wasn't. Inevitably the days would end with me cooking dinner for Charlie, Billy and Jacob. Dinner predictably, had Charlie and Billy sharing knowing glances while looking at Jacob and me. It wasn't subtle.

"Mine. I've got a surprise for you." I unknowingly lowered my voice.

_Was I flirting?_ _When did this start? _

"You do?" Jake's voice cracked on the 'do'. Evidently, he was as surprised as I was at my inept flirting. I didn't know why but I went with it.

_What is wrong with me?_

"I've decided to pay you back for all the lessons you've been giving me." First, I heard silence, then a long, slow exhale.

"You have?" Did Jake just squeak? Maybe I wasn't so good at flirting.

"I have. I've decided to give you ... " I paused for dramatic effect, but all I could hear was deep breathing on the other end of the phone." ... cooking lessons!" Silence again, then a knocking sound? "Jake, are you still there?"

"Hey, Bells, yeah sorry, I um ... just hit my head ... on the um ... hey cooking lessons! Cool, sounds like a blast! Billy will be thrilled. Hey listen, Sue Clearwater is heading into town, so I'll catch a ride with her. See you soon." With that, he was off the phone, and I was listening to the dial tone. Well that was ... different.

I busied myself in the kitchen getting ready for our "lesson". I had decided I was going to teach Jake how to make eggplant parmesan. Charlie, Billy and Jake ate an appalling amount of meat. I wanted to show them something that was filling, delicious AND made of vegetables. Charlie's radio was tuned to some old rock station, so I was singing along quietly while washing the eggplants. The song changed to a familiar melody. I sang a little louder.

_I can't fight this feeling any longer.  
>And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow.<br>What started out as friendship,  
>Has grown stronger.<br>I only wish I had the strength to let it show._

_Huh._

Interesting. That's kinda how I felt about Jake. I sang a little louder still. I might have been swaying to the music. I might have also used an eggplant as a microphone. I'm not sure.

_I tell myself that I can't hold out forever.  
>I said there is no reason for my fear.<br>Cause I feel so secure when we're together.  
>You give my life direction,<br>You make everything so clear._

_Huh?_

I felt safe and warm with Jake. He really was the reason I've been enjoying Forks so far. Being with him was easy and natural. I could be myself. I wonder what that meant?

_Was I holding out? Holding out for what? Seriously, Bella, what are you waiting for? _

I knew the age thing _almost_ didn't bother me as much as it used to, because frankly, Jake didn't act fifteen. Almost.

_And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight.  
>You're a candle in the window,<br>On a cold, dark winter's night.  
>And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might.<em>

Suddenly, Jake's arms snaked around my waist from behind, and he was singing into my ear. I froze and stopped singing. The huskiness in his voice was more pronounced when he was singing, and instead of being embarrassed by being caught singing along to the radio, I closed my eyes and relished listening to him croon to me.

_And I can't fight this feeling anymore.  
>I've forgotten what I started fighting for.<br>It's time to bring this ship into the shore,  
>And throw away the oars, forever.<br>_

He turned me around to face him, and lifted his finger under my chin so I was looking up into his eyes. I smiled, and joined back into the song.

_Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore.  
>I've forgotten what I started fighting for.<br>And if I have to crawl upon the floor,  
>Come crashing through your door,<br>Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore._

Jake leaned down closer to me. We both stopped singing. I couldn't even hear the music anymore. My breath hitched, and he paused about an inch away from me as his eyes sought out mine, seeking permission. When I closed my eyes, he hesitantly brushed his lips against mine. I gently returned his kiss. This felt ... right. I opened my eyes and smiled.

"Well, you have the crashing through the door part down." I looked up at him. Jake started laughing. He stepped back a bit, but didn't release me.

"I did knock. I think you were too wrapped up in your 'Rock Band' performance to notice." I blushed. "Not that I mind. I didn't have you pegged for a classic rock kinda girl."

"Renee went through a karaoke phase. I learned all the classics." I smiled at the memory of Renee coming home with a karaoke machine and insisting I learn all the songs with her. I wouldn't admit this to anyone, but I really enjoyed it. I was a closet karaoke fan. "But, I'm surprised you know this song. Were you even born when it came out?" My not so subtle reminder to myself that Jake was only fifteen. He scoffed.

"Please, Bella. First of all, you weren't born either. That song came out in 1979. Secondly, I probably know more rock than you, despite your karaoke obsession." He winked at me after the karaoke jab. "And thirdly, I'm older than you in our 'real ages' anyways, so you shouldn't act all high and mighty." He released me, and went to investigate all the ingredients I had laid out on the counter.

"Jake, did you hit your head on your way over here? In what universe are you older than me?" I had my hand on my hip looking up at him expectantly.

"Sure, sure. Bella, you have to take into account a lot of factors when deciding someone's real age. For instance: size. You're so small! I'd have to knock ten years off your total, and add fifteen to mine because I'm so much bigger than you!"

"Five foot four is perfectly average." I sniffed. "It's not my fault you're a freak." Jake wagged his finger at me.

"Now, Bella, name calling isn't very mature. I may have to dock some years off you for that." He sauntered back over to me, grinning. As usual, when Jacob smiled at me, I couldn't help but smile in return.

"What about my cooking skills? Doesn't that count for something?" I thought I was being funny and started batting my eyelashes at him. His hand reached up to my face and cupped my cheek.

"Sure, sure, Bella." He voice was deep and serious. "Bella, I know you have ... _concerns_ about our age difference. But please, don't let that ruin this." He motioned between us. "I ... I really like you." How did he always seem to know what I was thinking? I was surprised at the turn this talk had taken, and I had whiplash from how our easy banter transformed into declaring our intentions. But if our kiss was any indication, I fit with Jake. I reached up and covered his hand with my own.

"I like you too, Jake." I blushed.

_Why can't I just say things without turning red?_

"I won't let it bother me anymore. Since you're apparently thirty, and I'm seven." I smirked at him. He leaned into me again.

"You can be twenty-three. I don't want to be a cradle robber." He chuckled to himself. His lips met mine again, and this time was more intense. My lips melted into his warm kisses. My tongue, seemingly having a mind of its own, ran along his lower lip and I delighted in the taste of him. He shivered. The hand on my cheek moved behind my head, and Jake lightly pulled on my hair to tilt my head back. Then he ran his nose along my jaw line, up to my ear, and down to my collarbone.

_Just like my dream!_

Remembering my dream made me suddenly very hot, and I know I flushed crimson. He started kissing behind my ear, and then I felt him gently nibble on my earlobe.

"Mmm ... " I mumbled incoherently. Then his lips found mine again, and I opened my mouth a little and allowed his tongue entrance. My hands had somehow found themselves wrapped around Jacob. I explored the muscles in his back and pulled him closer to me. Having Jacob flush against me made me feel even hotter. The warmth reminded me of our day on the beach together. I smiled. I could feel Jake smile in response.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time, Bella." He pulled me into a hug.

"Be a cradle robber?" I joked. He rolled his eyes at me and then gave me a look.

"Ha ha, Ms. Funnypants. No." He pulled away and smacked my butt lightly. Then he shifted his weight, and looked uncomfortable.

"Hey, what is it? Sorry about the cradle robber crack." I wasn't used to seeing him like this. He shifted again, and then looked around.

"Soareyoumygirlfriendnow?" he blurted out quickly.

"I'm sorry. Again, but in English this time?" He stopped fidgeting, and looked directly at me.

"So are you my girlfriend now?" I think _he_ might have been blushing. Maybe he still did act fifteen after all.

"Well, that depends," I whispered. He looked up at me, alarmed. "Are you going around kissing any other girls?" He relaxed and flashed me his warmest smile. "Cuz, I'm not really into sloppy seconds." He pecked me on the lips quickly.

"No one but you."

"Then I guess that makes me your girlfriend." I enjoyed teasing him like this. His eyes were sparkling.

"Okay, Grlfriend. So what are we making for my cooking lesson?" I laughed at him.

"Well, Boyfriend," _Huh, I kinda liked how that sounded, _"we are making eggplant parmesan!" Jake wrinkled his nose up a little.

"Okay, but only because you're my girlfriend." Then he winked at me. I hadn't known it was possible, but I think Jacob just got a little cuter.

"Have I ever made you something you didn't like? Are you doubting my mad cooking skills?" Jake put his hand on his chin and looked upward as if he was deep in thought.

"No, I guess you haven't. But still, eggplants? Those are the weird purple looking things you were using as a microphone, right? What kind of food is purple?" He shook his head like the fact it was purple made it inedible.

"First of all, I'm denying using anything as a microphone." He rolled his eyes again.

"Sure, sure, Bells."

"Secondly, what's wrong with purple? My bed is purple." Jake's face paled, and then he did a double take.

"Your bed?" He looked up at the ceiling as if he was trying to see my bed. He looked down at me, and then said very quietly, "I've never seen your room." What was up with Jacob? I'd never seen him so flustered.

"Well, we can go for the grand tour if you like. It's not far from here, you know." I smirked at my own joke, but Jake's expression didn't waver. "But I should warn you, there's not much to see." I turned on my heel and led the way out of the kitchen. I could feel Jake right behind me, following me up the stairs. I opened the door with a flourish. "Voila. Casa de Bella." He hesitantly stepped inside and looked around. His eyes landed on my bed. "See, purple." I joked. He walked around slowly, looking at the pictures on my wall. He stopped at my window and looked out.

"Nice view," he mumbled. Jacob seemed distracted, which was very unlike him. He continued to stare out my window. I plopped down on the edge of my bed. The sound made him turn to look over his shoulder.

_Dream déjà vu! It was the exact same pose he had been in my dream!_

"Jake? What's wrong? You seem ... I dunno ... elsewhere." I began to fear the worst. I started to think that Jacob didn't actually want to date me and that he felt that the kiss downstairs was a mistake. I continued into my spiral of self-doubt until he finally spoke.

"I'm nervous," he whispered. That wasn't what I had expected to come from his mouth.

"Huh? Nervous about what?" He turned the rest of the way around to face me. The sun was shining through the window behind him. The area surrounding him was hazy with the glow from the lights and shadows. He really was stunning to look at.

"I don't ... ah ... have a lot of ... um ... experience." He was looking down at the floor. I was confused.

"Experience at what, Jake? Dating? Me neither." His head shot up. "I mean, I guess technically you're my first boyfriend. I didn't really date in Phoenix." He smiled a little. Then he went back to looking at the floor.

"Soyou'veneverhadsex?"

"Jake, again, in English please? We need to work on your enunciation." He walked over to the bed and knelt in front of me.

"So, you've never had sex?" I could barely hear him; he said it so quietly. He was still looking at the floor. I reached my hand out to him and lifted his chin up so I could look him in the eye.

"No, Jake, I've never been intimate with anyone." He let out a deep breath. "Have you? I mean, you said you didn't have 'a lot' of experience?" He shook his head no.

"You'll be my first too."

_WHAT? Wait, what is happening?_

"What? Whoa, Jake, what do you think is going on here?" My hand dropped from his face and I looked at him, alarmed. He looked at me, and his eyes grew wide. His mouth popped open, and I saw something click in place in his head.

"Shit! I'm such an idiot!" He stood up and started pacing across my room, making a circuit from my bed to my window. He was mumbling to himself, and all I could catch were snippets like 'idiot', 'rules' and 'kill him'. It was actually pretty cute, and I started giggling. He froze when he realised I was still here. He rushed back over to me and knelt down to be at my level again. "Bella, I am so sorry. I'm such an ass. Will you please forgive me and not break up with me despite my stupidity?" He looked so earnest.

"Jake, why don't you explain to me what all that was?" He smiled and held both my hands in his own.

"That was me being a complete douche f or ever thinking that Quil knew anything about girls." He shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Bella, I'm crazy about you. Not to freak you out, but I've had a crush on you since like, forever. Whenever we haven't been hanging out, I've been analyzing and over-analyzing everything we did. I was trying to figure out some way to make you want to be with me." He laughed softly.

"I think it worked." I winked at him. He smiled back at me and then kissed the back of my hand.

"I'm glad it did, although I don't know what I did to win you over."

"You were you. Bright, sunny you. Now what on Earth does this have to do with Quil?" I was honestly curious how my Jacob turned into quiet, nervous Jacob.

"Well, you know that Quil considers himself quite the "ladies" man. And every time I brought you up, he kept saying that getting you wouldn't be the hard part, keeping you would be. He implied that because you were older, you'd be more experienced and expecting things from me, and I would disappoint you, and you would drop me so fast I'd be left spinning." He said this all so quickly; I really had to concentrate to catch it all. "And then you mentioned your bed, and I thought you wanted it now, and I had no idea where to start, or what to do ... " I put a finger to his lips; I had to cut him off.

"Jake, hey. This is me." He closed his eyes. "This is us. When have we ever had to force things? Believe me, if and when I'm ready to take that step, I'll let you know. But I can guarantee it will be more than five minutes after we have started 'officially' dating." Jacob smirked then opened his eyes. He leaned forward, and I leaned in to give him another kiss. "Promise me one thing?" Jake pulled back so he could look at me.

"Anything."

"No more dating advice from Quil?" He rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, that's a given. Hey, I'm really sorry for being an ass." He was so cute when he was apologizing. I pulled my hands from his, and reached behind his neck to pull him closer to me.

"I think I'd like my apology to be a kiss." I smirked at him and gave him my unskilled flirting eyelashes. Again, they surprisingly appeared to work on Jacob. At first, he simply pressed his lips lightly against mine. As I responded by running my tongue along his lip, I felt the kiss intensify, as if he was actually trying to convey his remorse through this kiss. I moaned. I actually moaned. Jacob seemed to respond to my moan by pulling himself closer to me.

Despite our different heights, our bodies were now flush. I was still sitting on the edge of my bed, but Jacob had now positioned himself between my legs, sitting up on his knees in order to kiss me better. His one hand was on my neck and his other was trailing down my back. When his hand reached my butt, he gave it a small squeeze, but then continued down to my thigh. He gently lifted me, sliding me up the bed while moving forward, so he was half crouched over me with his knee on the bed. The whole move was so smooth, I found myself wondering if Jake was as inexperienced as he claimed. He moved his body up the bed to continue kissing me and was now hovering over me, supporting himself on his arms. He lowered himself to one side of my body and rolled me to face him. I lay with my head on his arm, and ran my hand along his neck into his hair. He laid one last chaste kiss on my lips and closed his eyes.

"So am I forgiven?"

_Hmm? What was he talking about? Oh yeah, the apology._

"Conditionally." He frowned and opened his eyes to look at me. "You're forgiven, provided you let me snuggle with you for a bit. I'm really enjoying this." I motioned to the almost nonexistent space between us, and pulled myself a little closer to him. I closed my eyes, and rubbed my head into his shoulder.

"Anything you want, honey." He kissed me on the forehead and laid his head back on my pillow. Evidently I wanted to nap in Jake's warm embrace, because I awoke about an hour later. I tried not to move too much, but Jacob had completely enveloped me into his body. I shifted my weight, and his eyes fluttered. He squeezed me once, and then pulled his arm away to stretch. "Sweet power nap. I am all ready to learn from the master chef." He arched his back and let out a yawn, which I of course, immediately imitated. I couldn't help but notice that when he leaned back to stretch, I got to see my favourite new muscle, just above his pants line.

Our lesson took longer than originally thought, mostly because we kept pausing to have mini make out sessions. Kissing Jake seemed to be my new favourite pastime. Also, Jacob seemed the think the funniest thing in the world was to have his giant handprint on my butt in flour. Every time I'd get it off, he'd find some way to put it back on again. Maybe he just wanted to touch my ass.

I was surprised how easy it was to transition to being Jake's 'girlfriend', but then again, I really shouldn't have been. Things had always been easy when we were together. There was something about him that made me feel totally comfortable, regardless of our situation.

When Charlie and Billy came home that night to find Jake and I in the kitchen finishing off our 'lesson', they seemed to sense something had changed. I don't know how. Maybe years of being a police officer actually gave Charlie some insight when he was paying attention. He seemed to be having a silent conversation with Billy, and then they both raised their eyebrows at Jake. Jacob, being ... well Jacob, simply laughed and came up behind me to wrap his arms around me and rest his chin on my head.

"Yeah, yeah, old man. We're together now. Don't act surprised." I thought I would explode from the embarrassment of having that discussion with Charlie, but somehow with Jacob there, it didn't bother me so much. I may have only flushed a light shade of pink. As it was, Charlie didn't even look at me. He made the 'watching you' motion to Jacob, and then pointed to the rifle over the fireplace. But then he winked at us, which I felt negated the whole scary cop dad thing. Surprisingly, Charlie didn't even say anything when Jacob and Billy left and Jake pulled me in for a very public kiss goodnight, but I could have sworn I heard him chuckling.

* * *

><p>End notes: Has anyone here seen 'Rock of Ages'? It's hilarious what they do with 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' in that musical. Plus I thought it was appropiate for the 'friend to more' transition. Did you think it fit, or was just a gratuitous use of a song? If you like the concept, I'm toying with having Bella do public karaoke! I welcome your song suggestions!<p>

Soooo? How do we feel about awkward, insecure Jake? How about their little misunderstanding about what was going on? Who else thinks Quil is hilarious?

Up next: JPOV - just what exactly did Quil say to Jake? And what are the 'rules' that Jake was muttering about? Warning - Jacob has a pottymouth when he's flustered!


	7. The Rules

An update – finally! So it's going to be a big one. I've had all these chaps done and posted over at Twilighted, but I've been going through the Project Team Beta process to try to clean up my chapters before posting them over here. Well, with the arrival of my new baby girl, I just don't have time for that now, so I'm posting them as they were, with some minor grammatical changes that I've picked up along the way.

A big thanks to everyone over at PTB and everyone who is reading this story.

SM owns all, and I just like to play with her characters!

Chapter 7 – The Rules

JPOV

Finally. Finally! FINALLY! I was finally with Bella. God knows how it actually happened, or how I still get to keep her after that shitastic start on Friday. She surprised the hell out of me by being all flirty on the phone that morning. I doubt she had any idea what her voice did to me when she dropped it and told me 'she had a surprise for me'. In fact, I doubt she knew what she did to me on a daily basis. At least I hope she doesn't know, at least she hasn't run screaming for the hills yet. If she actually knew about the semi permanent chub I've sported for the last two weeks, she'd probably freak.

I had basically taken to going for long swims in the ocean after our daily visits. The water is supposed to be colder at night, but lately, I just haven't been feeling the temperature drop like I used to. I guess not even the Pacific can cool me off after having been with Bella.

But on Friday, I showed up at her place, and she's singing along to an old rock song, swaying her hips to the music. By all rights and means, she should have looked ridiculous singing into that weird purple plant, but she just looked hot. As usual. And then I go and almost fuck everything up by being a dumbass and thinking that Quil could actually back up anything he goes on about. I'm still not sure why I listened to him – other than the fact he has dated half the girls in our class, and half the girls the year above us. Me? I've dated no one. Up until a couple months ago, girls never paid attention to me. Then I shot up a foot and suddenly they're fawning all over me – completely forgetting about being bitchy and catty to me. Most girls are too much drama for me. I'm not about the drama. Quil ... he's another story. Quil loves the drama. That should have been my first clue that I shouldn't employ 'Quil's Guide to Hooking Up'. That, and the fact that I didn't want to hook up with Bella. I wanted to be her boyfriend and be with her for a long, long time.

Before I had called her Friday morning, Quil came over to drop off some stuff in my garage.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your tools man. Changing my mom's tire would have sucked without your cross wrench. I have no idea where ours went." I laughed, I knew exactly what had happened to his cross wrench. Quil had left it out in the rain after the last time he got a flat, and it was now a rusty piece of shit in their yard.

"Maybe you should take it easy on your mom's car. How many tires have you gone through now?" This had to be the second or third one in a month.

"That's the problem. It's the same tire, we just keep mending it, instead of buying a new one. I'm sure I find the hole, but then it starts leaking again." Then Quil gave me 'the eyebrow', which is never a good sign. "Dude! I just got a sweet idea! If you help me replace the tire with a decent one, I will help you hook up with Bella!" Quil looked smugly at me, as if he were offering me the knowledge of the universe. At this point, I was desperate for anything that would push things a little further. It didn't hurt that last time I was at the scrap yard, I saw the same model car as his mom's with some of its tires intact.

"Deal. We'll go this weekend." I stuck my hand out. Quil shook it then sat down on the old bench I had in the garage.

"Okay Jacob, what I'm about to tell you can't leave this garage. This is my tried and tested, no fail guide to hooking up with chicks. It's what's made me the legend I am today." I tried not to roll my eyes. I really did. Well maybe I didn't try that hard. "There are three golden rules to follow, and I guarantee Bella will be putty in your hands." When he mentioned Bella's name, I paid closer attention.

"Rule Number One: Be the Man." He looked at me like this was the best advice on earth. "Chicks love a guy that takes control. So stop being a pansy ass shit, and kiss her already." Ok, that was fair. I had wanted to kiss her for awhile, and had done nothing about it, because I'm a chicken shit.

"Rule Number Two: Own it." I just stared at him, having no idea what he meant by this. Quil rolled his eyes at my lack of understanding what the hell he was talking about. "Stop living in a bubble, and realise you want this girl. Anytime she mentions anything about touching you, or her bed, or sex, own it. Run with it. Because if she's saying it, she's thinking it, so she wants it." I raised my eyebrow to him, my expression clearly disbelieving.

"I dunno Quil. That sounds like I'm assuming she just wants to get laid." That didn't seem like Bella at all. Quil cleared his throat, clearly not liking being interrupted.

"And that brings me to Rule Number Three: She's the Boss. Jacob my boy, you are about to venture into new waters for you, but not unchartered territory. She's going to be a senior, and she's smokin', so assume she knows her way around the bedroom. I can tell a girl like Bella knows what she wants, so let her be the boss. It's the only way you'll get to keep her after Rule One and Two. Otherwise she'll realise you're a useless tool, and she'll start to look elsewhere for her 'satisfaction'." Quil stood up and clapped me on the back on his way out of my garage. "You're welcome Jake, I expect a new tire by Monday."

I stood with my mouth gaping open, wondering if that conversation actually just happened. None of what Quil had said really made sense, except maybe the part where I man up and kiss her.

Of course he also had to bring up that she's probably been with other guys. I hated, HATED, the thought of any other guy touching her. That more than anything is what led me to stupidly employing Quil's dumbass 'Rules'. I'll admit that 'Rule One' is what I was thinking when I got the balls to wrap my arms around her and start singing. And she seemed into it, so I kept right on with 'Rule One', and kissed her. And it felt ... so right. Like it was totally natural that I was kissing her in her kitchen. So riding my high of success from 'Rule One' I jumped into 'Rule Two', clearly not taking the conversation in context, because if I was really listening, I would have realised she was comparing her bed to a vegetable, and not trying to seduce me. Lucky for me, Bella is amazing, and thought my idiocy was 'cute'. I don't deserve her.

So what did I learn from all of this? Essentially I'm a moron for listening to Quil, who is now in my books, the King of all Tools. The only upside was I got to find out that Bella, like me, is still a virgin. So I don't have to fly to Phoenix and kill anyone. That's a plus. Oh yeah, and the fact that we're now a couple – a huge plus; but I don't want to give Quil any credit on that. The downside? School starts in two weeks, and I feel like I just got Bella to myself. I don't want to share.

I shot outside when I heard her truck approach.

"Hey beautiful." I leaned down to kiss her. She peeked up at me from beneath her eyelashes.

"Hey Jake." She sighed as she melted into my chest, pulling herself closer to me. "I missed you." She grinned up at me.

_So cute!_

"I missed you too honey. Did Charlie give you a hard time last night?" She giggled and swatted at my arm.

"I thought he might after you kissed me like that!" I loved the sound of her laughter. "But shockingly he's said nothing on the subject."

"Oh, you know you love it." With that I dipped her back and laid a wet juicy kiss on her. It was meant as a joke, but suddenly the kiss morphed from sloppy and wet to hot and primal, as I pulled her closer to me and pressed her up against her truck.

_Where did that move come from?_

I released my hold on her and backed away slowly. Bella's eyes fluttered open, but seemed unfocused.

"Um...wow."

_My feelings exactly._

"I thought I had a question for you, but for the life of me, can't remember it." She shook her head, as if trying to clear it of debris. "Oh yeah, what did you want to do today?"

I tried to collect myself as well.

"Well, did you want to come to the scrap yard with me? I need to pick up a few things for the Rabbit, and a new tire for Quil."

She smiled at me then rolled her eyes.

"Ah...payment for his awesome advice?"

I chuckled, she knew me so well.

"Something like that, although he doesn't deserve it. But I said I would, and I've got to go anyways, so maybe it will be incentive for him to not give me any _more_ advice." She opened the door to her truck, and motioned for me to get in.

"Anything to avoid more advice from Quil." She winked, and walked around to the other side of the truck, then hopped in the cab. I could see that she was thinking about something when that tiny crease on her forehead appeared. She was so easy to read.

"Hey Bells. What's wrong?"

She blinked and shook her head slightly.

"Hmm? What's that Jake?"

I scooted closer to her, and tucked a loose hair behind her ear.

"You look like you're trying to solve complex math problems in your head. What's up?"

She blushed a little, then smiled.

"I was just thinking we're not going to have much more time like this together. School is starting back, and I'm really going to miss spending all my free time with you." I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, then released it back to her. Bella needed both hands to drive. I settled with my arm around her. Of course she would be feeling the exact same way I was. I shouldn't have been surprised; we were usually on the same page about stuff.

"I know, Bells. I was thinking that too this morning. But we'll figure it out. We can do homework together, and I can help you cook dinners and stuff. Plus we'll have weekends. Turn up there." I motioned up the road for her to turn into the scrap yard. "I think the person we should feel the worst for is Quil. He's really going to miss having you around." I deadpanned.

Her head did a double take, and then she poked me in the rib.

"Not funny, Jacob Black." She gave me her best angry face, and then giggled. "Okay, so which pile of junk first?"

I hopped out of the truck and offered her my hand.

"Ah, I see you're eager to learn more, young grasshopper. Don't worry, I'll show you the ropes." I winked at her, and then kissed her on top of her head before leading her towards a small pile at the south end of the lot.

Bella stood by sceptically while I pawed through the final pieces I would need to complete the Rabbit.

"What?"

She had been staring at my little pile of pieces for a few minutes, not saying anything.

"I'm just impressed that you can turn this junk into something that works." She poked one of the pieces hesitantly, as if expecting it to bite her. "Honestly, I have no idea what you're even looking for, and then after you find it, I'm shocked that it's an actual thing, and not just a busted piece of metal." She looked up at me in awe, and I was a little surprised. I had never really considered my mechanic skills something to be proud of; they had just been a means to an end, or something to keep me busy. And yet here I had somehow impressed this amazing girl with my mediocre talent.

I scratched the back of my head with my free hand, feeling somewhat self conscious.

"Thanks, Bells. It's just a hobby, and it keeps me out of trouble." I laughed, then gave her a stern look. "Gotta keep outta trouble if I'm gonna be dating the Chief's daughter." I guessed she wasn't expecting that to be my response because she flushed pink, made a small 'o' with her mouth and then started laughing really loudly.

"Intentions aside," she snorted, "it's still impressive that you're going to turn that into a working car."

"Sure, sure, Bella. I've got skilled hands." I snickered self depreciatingly, and wiggled my fingers at her expecting her to continue laughing. But she just dropped her jaw, and turned the reddest I've ever seen her go. Suddenly it hit me how she took it. I reached out to her, my eyes begging her to believe me.

"Gah! Bells, I didn't mean it like that! I was just ... with the tools ... car ... make things..." Oh God, how was I going to make her see I didn't mean it like that when I couldn't even get a complete sentence out? Between yesterday and today, I was positive she thought I was only after one thing, which couldn't be further from the truth. Well, maybe that's not completely true, I AM a teenage boy, but it's certainly not the ONLY thing I think about. She pulled out of my grasp, and turned on her heel and walked away.

And I thought that was it.

_The end. _

Then she did the very last thing I expected. As she walked towards her truck she called over her shoulder.

"That's too bad, Jacob. I was really looking forward to seeing how skilled your hands were."

Then she winked. She fucking winked at me!

_WHAT?_

Then in typical Washington state fashion it started to rain. And I couldn't move. I stood in the rain, my mouth imitating a fish, watching Bella walk to her truck. I fucking loved this new side to Bella.

"C'mon, Jake!" She had stopped with her flirty vixen routine, and was now pulling her hood up over her head. "I'm getting all wet, are you coming?" Of course now that she'd put the thought in my head, the flood gates were open. I was now thinking of a very different kind of 'wet' Bella, and a very different kind of 'coming'.

_Welcome back, super erection. I thought you wouldn't be making an appearance today, but I guess I was wrong._

I didn't even bother answering her since I couldn't form a complete sentence thirty seconds before when all the blood was in my brain, I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to form one while the blood was ... elsewhere. I simply ran to catch up to her. I loaded up the back of her truck with all the parts I found, and hopped in the cab. She was smirking as she pulled out of the scrap yard.

"You think you're all kinds of funny don't you?" I raised my eyebrow at her. She tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably.

"Oh c'mon, Jake!" she burst out laughing. "You make it so easy. I'm not as easily offended as you think. You should know that!" She smiled, but raised her eyebrow back at me. "A little faith please?" She lowered her hood and let her long, chestnut hair fall loose down her back.

Suddenly all I was aware of was her scent. It was everywhere in this tiny space, and all I could smell was her. It was as if someone had dosed the cab of her truck in extra strength Bella perfume. It smelled heavenly, the perfect balance of some type of flower, and fruit – _maybe strawberries_?

"Um hello? Jacob? I was talking here? Where did you go?" She was waving her hand in front of my face. "What are you sniffing? Did you fart or something, cuz that's just not cool."

Then, just as quickly as the intense smell came, it went back to normal.

"What? Sorry, Bella. Just thought I smelled something, and no, it wasn't fart. By the way, if farts offend you, never stick around if Embry asks if you smell barbeque." I offered.

She raised her eyebrow at me quizzically.

"What does barbeque have to do with farts?" She looked utterly confused.

"What's the first thing people do when someone says they smell barbeque?" I stared at her expectantly.

"I dunno. Sniff with them?" She paused to look at me to check if this was the right answer. I waited a few beats for her words to sink in. "Oh! Oh? That's awful! He farts, and then says something to make people sniff deeply? Is Embry okay in the head?" She looked mortified.

"Also, don't ever accept a cup of tea from Quil." I tried to stifle a laugh.

"Oh my gosh." Bella blushed. "Do I even want to know?" She was concentrating on driving so she wouldn't laugh too hard.

"Let's just say that Quil has been known to fart into a teacup and then try and serve it to you. I don't recommend it." I couldn't help it and started to laugh really loudly. The sound echoed in the cab. Bella actually had to pull over because she was laughing so hard she was clutching her sides.

"No!" She wheezed. "Tell me these aren't the people you hang out with?"

"Still not so easily offended?" I joked.

"You're right. Maybe I should question your taste in friends, and by extension, your taste in women." She got mock offended. "What does this mean about me?"

Tears were now streaming down both of our faces. I hadn't laughed like this in a really long time.

"Oh, Jake." She sighed. "You're so silly." She reached over and pulled me into a deep kiss.

I could now easily forget Quil's 'Rules'. Apparently the way to a girl's heart is through laughter.

As we eased back onto the road, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I felt hyper aware again, but not in the same way as before. It wasn't smell this time, but almost like some other sense had taken over. I looked over at Bella, and she seemed unaware, but I got the distinct feeling we were being watched. I shook my head to try to get rid of the feeling, just in time to lock eyes with something in the woods. And then it was gone.


	8. The Green Eyed Monster

Chapter 8 – The Green Eyed Monster

EPOV

_Edward._

_Edward!_

_EDWARD!_

"Alice, when people don't respond to you calling them, it's generally because they are ignoring you." I spoke out loud knowing full well she could hear me from her room. Suddenly she appeared in my doorway.

"Edward. You have to desensitise yourself to her smell. Otherwise look what happens!" Alice showed me a vision of me murdering my entire English class, along with the teacher Mr. Berty so I could have some privacy in killing and draining Bella. With a little over two weeks until school began, again, I understood why Alice was harassing me.

"Lovely, Alice, thanks for that. That's sure to help me." I rolled my eyes at her. The truth is I hadn't figured out yet how to desensitise myself to her without losing it and killing her in the process. Alice stood with her hands on her hips, tapped her foot and glared at me.

"You're not even trying, Edward. You haven't fed in over a week. How are you supposed to resist her if you're hungry?" She looked at me expectantly. I glared at her. She glared back. For a second we actually looked like the dangerous vampires we were. I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Alice, I'm not keen on becoming 'Stalker Boy' to this girl. It's not exactly gentlemanly to follow a girl around just to get used to her scent." She came and sat next to me on the leather sofa in my room.

"Edward. Let's hunt. Then I'll go with you to her house, and we'll just sit outside her house for a bit. That's a start." I shrugged, but made no move to stop her as she pulled me to my feet.

I sated myself on two large mule deer before I found myself sitting high in the trees with Alice, overlooking Bella Swan's house. I could faintly make out her scent, but nothing that would cause any rash actions on my part. Alice was right; helped to get used to her fragrance.

As before, I couldn't hear Bella's thoughts, although I knew she was there. Chief Swan's thoughts were more subdued than others I had encountered. As he prepared himself for work, I could feel love and concern in his thoughts, but I couldn't make out specifics from this distance. Bella must have inherited her silence from him.

As soon as the police cruiser pulled out of the driveway, Alice moved out of her crouched position to get closer to the house.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Edward, you need to get closer than this to get acclimatized. We'll stay in the tree line, but let's move nearer to the house." Alice lithely hopped from branch to branch, moving them no more than the breeze did. I reluctantly followed, each leap bringing the wretched burning to my throat, as Bella's scent assaulted me the closer I got to the house. When Alice finally stopped, I felt that the distance we were was manageable. I was fully aware of the scorching in my throat, but wasn't overcome with the desire to break into the Swan residence. I was also able to hear everything that was happening in the house, which of course included Bella's heartbeat. For now, she was still asleep.

"Okay, Alice, I sniffed her house. Can we go now?" I turned my gaze towards Alice.

"Pfft." She scoffed. "We've been here for all of five minutes. That's hardly desensitised. Stop freaking out. You can handle being here, and you need to be able to be closer to her than twenty feet, and not separated by a building."

"I could be closer than this." I grumbled. "This just feels like we're spying on her. It's not right." I folded my arms over my chest. I saw myself through Alice's eyes and objectively, it very much looked like I was pouting. Alice smirked.

"Then turn around or close your eyes, so you don't feel like a voyeur. No one said you had to look at her, just get used to her scent." Then she stuck out her tiny tongue at me. I made a big show of turning around, and looking into the forest.

Eventually I heard Bella's heart rate increase, and then sounds of her stirring from her sleep. I was hit with a vision of me in her bedroom, soaking up her scent.

"Alice, can you please tell me why you see me in her bedroom?" I shifted minutely so I could see her in my peripheral vision.

"It would appear Bella is planning on going out today, thus giving you the perfect opportunity to really saturate yourself with her scent." Alice shrugged, and continued concentrating on the house. "She'll leave for La Push in forty-seven minutes." I snapped my head to look at Alice full on.

"Why is she going to La Push?" Not that I was planning on following her all day today, but I was irritated now that the prospect was denied to me. Alice showed me a vision of Bella laughing with a boy with long dark hair.

_Who was this boy? Is he her boyfriend? If he's not, does she have a boyfriend? Wait, why do I care if she has a boyfriend? I'm simply going to extra lengths to avoid killing her, that is all. I'm doing this to protect my family. It would be ridiculous for me to even entertain dating a human, much less one who may be my singer. Preposterous. I would never engage in such a foolish and outlandish idea. Utterly irresponsible..._

"I think you're best option is the window." Alice broke me out of my inner tirade, her head cocked to the side; as she analysed the house. "You can use the cover of that large tree at the side of the house to get into her room."

"Alice," I began when she interrupted me.

"Tut tut." She clucked. "I've already seen it will work, and you will benefit from being surrounded by her scent, without a warm body to endanger. It's brilliant really." She looked smugly at me, then back to the house. I resumed my previous position of facing away from the house.

Forty-four minutes later I heard the thunderous roar of Bella's truck, as she pulled away from the house. Thirty seconds after the sound of the truck faded from the distance, I was perched on a branch of the tree outside her bedroom window. I tried to ease open her window, but it stuck a little. Alice appeared next to me holding a can of WD-40. She tapped her head.

"Brilliant."

A few quick sprays, and the window slid open. I was once again assaulted with her scent, and it seemed more potent than I recalled. I slid into the room, and was overwhelmed by the essence of Bella. Alice hopped in quickly behind me. I inhaled a long drag of the air, and felt my lungs explode with fire. My venom was freely flowing in my mouth. I swallowed, hard. Alice rubbed soothing circles in my back.

"How are you finding it. Edward?" Alice looked up at me, her eyes full of concern.

"It's manageable. You were of course correct in your assessment Alice. It truly is easier to manage without a thudding heartbeat nearby." I smiled at my favourite sister. She was justly worried for me, and I appreciated the effort she took in my well being – both mental and physical. And I wasn't lying. Without the presence of Bella's heart reminding the monster inside me of the source of her blood, I found her aroma to be very appealing. Much like appreciating the bouquet of a wine before drinking it, I found myself able to appreciate Bella's bouquet, without drinking her.

I inhaled again and noticed a faint animalistic odour. Dog maybe? But Bella didn't have a dog. It was residual, maybe a day old or so. I almost didn't notice it amongst the more appealing scents in the room.

_Maybe a friend brought a dog to visit?_

That seemed the most plausible reason to explain the foreign stench.

I felt, rather than heard, Alice withdraw from the room. She had been carefully controlling her thoughts all morning, and as she ran away from the house, I could faintly hear her say that she was proud of me. I walked towards Bella's bed, where her scent was more concentrated. I tried not to snoop around her room, reminding myself that I was here for her fragrance alone. But the more I thought about Bella, the more it bothered me that I hadn't been able to hear her. I wanted to learn more about this mysterious girl with the silent mind, and enticing aroma. Before I realised what I was doing, I was outside running towards the border of our territory and La Push. I had no intention of crossing the border, but I was curious as to why Bella went there.

I actually passed her decrepit, slow truck on my run to the border. I held my breath as the rusty heap passed by, and turned into La Push, disappearing from sight. I strained to listen for voices concentrated around the sound of her truck, but she was too far in, and I could go no further.

_So now what?_

I had already broken into her home to saturate myself in her scent. I followed her to the one place I wasn't allowed to enter by treaty, and I had no idea why. Suddenly, I heard the sound of her truck approaching. A young boy was now in the car with Bella. I inhaled as they passed by. Again, there was the faint aroma of dog. Perhaps this was the friend who brought a dog to visit. Through his thoughts, I could hear their conversation. Bella was lamenting returning to school.

_Ha, if she only knew the real reason she shouldn't go back._

The young boy took her hand, and then put his arm around her. My hands accidently gouged the branch of the pine tree I squatted on. I also heard a low growling and looked around, only to realise it was me.

_Well that was ... peculiar. _

I followed the truck the short distance to the scrap yard. This was no place to bring a lady. There was no way this child could be courting Bella, you simply don't court with garbage. And yet I could hear his thoughts and adoration of Bella while they continued their conversation. He joked with her about teaching and then leaned down to kiss her head. I heard the snarling again and tried to calm myself. I had no claim to this girl. I didn't even know her. She seemed impressed with the collection of garbage the child had accumulated. Apparently he was rebuilding a car with it. Well that was a skill I could appreciate. I had nowhere near the level of knowledge or talent as Rosalie, but I could understand the satisfaction of building something from nothing. Then I heard it.

"Gotta keep outta trouble if I'm gonna be dating the Chief's daughter."

So they are dating. Suddenly my mind was filled with so many questions. And I had no source to search for answers. Again, her mind was blank to me.

_What attracts her to this boy?_

_Does she feel for him how intensely he feels for her?_

_Why does she not care that they are at a junk yard? _

_Seriously, who courts in a junk yard?_

_Does she love him?_

_Why did she blush just now?_

I jumped to the only source I had, and the boy's mind was a jumble. He was completely panicked. What had I missed? I was suddenly overcome with thoughts of intense lust, with brief flashes of him kissing Bella passionately, and extreme angst and heartbreak. His typical teenage hormones aside, he really did seem to adore Bella. A part of me felt bad for him, until I remembered we were in a junk yard.

_May this be a lesson in how to treat ladies to you, young man._

But then Bella did something completely unexpected. I heard her call out to him.

"That's too bad Jacob. I was really looking forward to seeing how skilled your hands were." And then she winked. But from my perspective, I could see her face, and he could not. As she turned around she turned bright red. It was the most intense blush I had ever seen. I could not get a read on this girl. Saying something that bold was usually accompanied by great self-assuredness, but Bella seemed embarrassed?

_What a mystery you pose, Miss Swan._

As the rain started down on us, she called out to the boy again, this time not as playful as before. His mind reacted to her words, and he had extremely impure thoughts of Bella. I was hit with a visual blur of erotic images he conjured up of Bella. I quickly removed myself from the onslaught of pictures in his mind. I retreated to the safety of the tree line so I could not be seen as they left. Despite my best efforts, the images remained, and the growling returned. But this was not the usual inner beast I had to tame. This was not the monster that yearned for blood. It was an entirely new creature, and I didn't know what it wanted.

I followed them back towards La Push and caught the rest of their conversation as they had pulled over due to Bella laughing so hard she was crying. At what? Toilet humour? This girl never had the reaction I expected. As they pulled back onto the road, I felt a shift from the boy. He seemed aware of a presence, and then at the last minute our eyes met.

_Did he see me?_

I frantically searched his mind before he disappeared, and could only find that he saw something, but didn't know what it was. I hoped he didn't tell his elders. While I wasn't breaking any rules by being here, the optics of the situation were not good. Deciding I had pushed my luck enough for one day, I went home deep in thought of what had transpired today.


	9. The Neutral News

Chapter 9 – The Neutral News

BPOV

"Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight." Jacob was absentmindedly singing.

"Are you singing Billy Madison at me?" I raised my eyebrows in question. Jake peeked his head out from under my hood.

"I guess I was. Back to school jitters?" He shrugged his shoulders and went back to tinkering with my truck.

"Right, like someone is dumb enough to pick a fight with you; you're huge!" Jacob seemed have grown a few more inches over the last two weeks. And he wasn't all gangly and un-coordinated either. His growth spurt just made him ... bigger. Both in height and in the muscle department. Not that I was complaining. I still got drooley whenever we went to the beach, and it was warm enough to swim. I had a hot boyfriend. It was so un-me.

"You know I'm a lover not a fighter honey." He peeked his head around the hood to wink at me.

"So I got some good news and some bad news Bells. Which do you want first?" Jake closed the hood, and wiped his hands on a rag.

"The bad news." I nodded somberly and feigned despair. Sometimes it was so easy to be silly with Jacob.

"The tube between the air filter housing and the intake manifold is cracked." He just looked at me expectantly.

"Sorry, Yoda, I'm not quite up to Jedi level on this car stuff. Want to dumb it down for your favourite student?" I walked over to him and put my hands on his very hard, very muscular chest. Jacob placed his hands over mine, then pulled them to his mouth and laid a kiss on every knuckle.

"Let's just say that tube cracks equal escaped air, which is bad news. Now do you want the good news?" Jacob brushed a stray hair behind my ear and kissed me gently.

"You should have kissed me when you gave me the bad news, you know, to lessen the blow." I smirked up at him.

"Good point, Bells. Here's another to make up for it." He kissed me again, but deeper this time. He lifted me up so I could kiss him more easily. My hands found their way into his silky hair. My legs somehow wrapped themselves around his waist, and I pulled his face closer to mine. He licked my bottom lip, and my mouth opened allowing his tongue entrance. He tasted like apples and cinnamon. I sensed Jacob was hesitating to go further right now so I pulled away panting, needing to catch my breath. Ever since the scrapyard, he seemed determined to show me that he was with me for more than just 'hooking up' as he called it.

"See? You could tell me anything after kissing me like that." I grinned at him as he set me back down on the ground.

"I think I was trying to tell you some good news. Ah yes, I can fix your truck."

"Of course you can fix it. I never questioned that." We walked back to his house hand in hand.

"The neutral news..." Jake started.

"The neutral news?" I interrupted him, laughing at his made up term.

"Well I can't get the part 'til next weekend, and school starts tomorrow and I don't think you should drive it until I fix it..." Jake was rambling. He often did it when he was nervous, or overwhelmed. I thought it was adorable. "...so I think we should swap cars until I fix yours. So you see its kinda bad news, but also good news, so I figured it was neutral news." He was looking at me out the side of his eyes, gauging my reaction to his logic. I ran my hand up his arm along his bicep. This was partly to soothe him and partly because it was a lame excuse to feel up his muscles.

_Hello? Hot man arm. No excuse needed._

"You're right, Jake. Neutral news was perfect." I squeezed his arm. _Sigh_. "But the Rabbit? Are you sure? She's like you're baby." Because Jake only had his learners permit he could only take the Rabbit out with Billy. He'd yet to drive her solo, I can't believe he was going to let me take her for a week. I mean, he had just finished her last week.

"Silly Bella. You're my number one girl. Of course you can drive her." Then he whispered conspiratorially towards me. "Just don't tell her I said that."

"You're too sweet, Jake. What did I do to deserve you?" I craned my neck up to look at his face.

"You were you, honey. That's all I ever wanted. You." He bent down to kiss my head, and a smile crept onto my face from his words.

No one had ever wanted me before. No one had ever noticed me before. I was ridiculously lucky that the first person to show interest in me and pursue me was this handsome guy who was funny, sweet and took care of me. I was usually the one taking care of everyone else. Everything about our relationship was backwards to my life in Arizona, and I loved it. I loved that he brought me out of my shell, I loved that he made an effort to take care of me and I was beginning to suspect I might love a certain young Quileute demi god. A girl can only take so much of being the quiet, responsible caregiver before she starts to feel seventy. Something about Jacob's sunny disposition made me feel younger and more carefree than I had in a long time.

"So how are you feeling about meeting up with all your new classmates? You still stressed about it?" Jake looked concerned.

"Nah, it shouldn't be too bad." I shrugged my shoulders. "Meeting the group on the beach that first week helped." We had periodically seen some of the kids from Forks High at the beach over the last few weeks, but never in the same number as that first weekend. We generally kept it to short 'hellos', but I think I knew a lot of their names now. "Plus, hanging with Quil and Embry has broadened my horizons. I doubt I'll meet anyone at school who makes me blush as much as those two do." I started laughing, and Jake joined in. As we reached the front door of his house, we saw Quil coming along the path next to Jake's house.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Hey Quil, what's up?" Jake reached his fist out to bump it with Quil's. Quil bumped back, and made a weird exploding motion with his hand.

"Not much, Black, not much. And how is Lady Swan this fair day?" He made a grand sweeping motion into a low bow. I rolled my eyes, Quil was such a goof sometimes.

"She's fine." I replied. He tried to reach for my hand to kiss it, but Jake swatted his hand away.

"Where's your life partner? I didn't think you and Embry could survive extended periods of time without each other?" I quickly linked my fingers through Jakes. Quil noticed and then winked at me. He must be a force to be reckoned with at school. I wondered if there was anyone who Quil felt was off limits to his shameless flirting. I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head.

"Embry's sick or something equally lame. I went over and he said he wasn't feeling well, so he's gonna try to rest up before school tomorrow. He's such a keener. I mean, really? Who rests up for school?" He was making wild motions with his arms, as if trying to portray his disappointment through mime. Being quite the keener myself, I could understand where Embry was coming from. Evidently Quil felt that Embry was committing something akin to high treason for ditching him to sleep.

"I'm sure he'll feel better soon, and you can continue your quest for world domination, or whatever it is you two do when I'm not around." Jake slapped Quil on the back.

"I'm 'The Brain' in that scenario right?" Quil looked all smug.

"I'm pretty sure you're 'Pinky', but believe whatever you want." Jake elbowed Quil in the ribs, and Quil took that as a sign for them to start wrestling. I took it as my queue to leave.

"Aw, Bella, don't go." Jake was holding Quil in a headlock, and stood up straighter to look at me. He dropped Quil's head. "Look, no more fighting, you don't have to leave." Quil took Jake's words as an opportunity to try to gain the upper hand. But Jake just held Quil off with one arm fully extended, and his hand squishing Quil's face.

"Ygh Blwa, dun gu." Quil was trying to say something, but it was incomprehendable while his mouth was being smushed with Jake's giant hand.

"I probably should be heading out anyways. Gotta be a keener and get everything ready for school tomorrow." I winked at Quil, and reached up to give Jake a goodbye kiss. "Keys please!"

"Dude, you gave her the Rabbit? .Fuck?" Quil's jaw was on the ground, and seemingly for the first time, speechless.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm loaning Bella the Rabbit until I fix her truck." Jake shuffled closer to me and pulled the keys out of his pocket. That seemed to appease Quil.

"That's better. I thought you got pussy whipped, hard. The Rabbit, man! The Rabbit!" Quil was shaking his head.

"Um, I'm standing right here."

"Yeah, yeah, leave now please. I gotta teach your boy toy here what it means to be a man." Quil jerked his thumb in Jake's direction, while Jake scoffed at him and rolled his eyes. Then Jake leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Don't worry, honey, I won't forget. No more advice from Quil." He gently kissed my cheek and opened the driver side door to the Rabbit. I hopped in and stuck my hand out the window to wave goodbye as I pulled away from his house. From the rear-view mirror, I could still see Quil's emphatic arm motions.

I pulled up to my house to see the cruiser in the driveway. That was surprising; I thought Charlie had a shift today. I let myself in to find Charlie seated in the living room watching football.

"Playing hookey?" I called out as I took my shoes off. Charlie jumped.

"Gah, Bells! You scared the bejesus outta me. I didn't hear you pull up." What Charlie meant was 'I didn't hear your beast of a truck rumbling up the road from a half mile out.' I laughed.

"I wasn't exactly quiet when I opened the door and called out to you." I met Charlie's confused gaze and decided to cut him a break. "Jake didn't like how something sounded in the truck, so he took a look at it, and then decided he didn't like how it looked. So he loaned me the Rabbit until he gets the part he needs to fix my truck." I shrugged my shoulders as if it was no big deal, but secretly I was amazed that Jake would loan me his most valuable possession. I had to agree with Quil a little bit. It was what he had spent the better part of a year working on. I raised my eyebrow at Charlie, wondering why he was home. "You still haven't answered my question?"

"Oh, Mark and I traded shifts. I ordered pizza." He motioned towards the kitchen and then he went back to the flatscreen to watch the rest of the football game. I ran up to my room to get my things ready for school the next day. When I walked in I noticed that the window was open, which was bizarre because I had closed it when I left for La Push. I guessed Charlie must have opened it when he got home to let a breeze in. The house, much like my truck, did not have air conditioning.

I opened up my laptop and sent Renee a quick e-mail, reminding her I started school tomorrow, and letting her know some small things I wanted for my birthday. I learned a long time ago it was much less embarrassing on my part if I gave my mother a list of items I wanted for presents, rather than leaving her to her own devices. After my sixteenth birthday when Renee got me a very different kind of Rabbit than Jacob's, I vowed never to leave her without a list again. I flushed red at the mere memory of the Rabbit Vibrator, and shook my head.

I laid out the clothes I was planning on wearing tomorrow, and pre packed my notebooks into my knapsack.

_Keener._

I printed off my schedule, and laid it on top of my things, then shut down the laptop to head downstairs and join Charlie. I figured we should get in some father/daughter bonding time before I went back to school since our schedules wouldn't always mesh after school started. I grabbed a slice and joined Charlie in front of the television, and tried not to think about all the people I would have to meet tomorrow. When it was finally time for bed, I changed into a holey t-shirt and shorts and set my alarm. I had a nagging feeling, and did one last check to make sure I had everything I needed.

_Clothes, books, bag...where was the schedule I printed off?_

I searched all over my room, but couldn't find it anywhere, so I booted up my laptop and printed off another copy, this time carefully placing it _inside_ my bag. I finally fell asleep, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was really weird that my schedule had vanished.

EPOV

There was something acutely wrong with me. Ever since I had sat outside Bella's house under the pretence of acclimatizing to her scent, I was slowly falling into a spiral of hedonistic morals. At first I passed it off as being diligent, and keeping my family's secret, but Alice wasn't fooled anymore. Thankfully she'd kept my secret from the rest of the family, but they would figure it out soon, if they hadn't already.

At the time I believed the 'break and enter' into her room was in her best interest. She wasn't even home, and I didn't take anything.

_Other than a greater interest in her._

Then I followed her to the dump. Admittedly this behaviour is not becoming of a gentleman, but I managed to _(barely)_ convince myself it was research into why I couldn't read her mind. Having narrowly escaped from her 'boyfriend' seeing me as I watched them, one would think I would have backed off. Evidently the opposite was true. I had taken to breaking into her room every time she left the house. I crept to her window every night and watched her sleep. So I could add voyeur to my ever growing list of creepy things I was now capable of.

I even got sloppy. I always expected the sound of her thunderous truck to announce her arrival to me, since I could never hear her thoughts. I was so intent on analysing every detail of her room, I didn't notice when she walked through the door of the house the day before school started, and called out to Charlie. There I was, standing in her room, while she was in the house. I knew in that instant I had gone well beyond the personal boundaries I had set up for myself, and had no idea how to get back. I flew out the window and climbed high into the tree, obscured by leaves and branches. That is unless someone was to stand under the tree and look up. That person would see an undead teenager lurking about at an inappropriate hour.

_I'm sure they would find it completely normal. _

_What's wrong with me?_

So I watched. I watched her so I could learn more about her. She was meticulous. She was careful. She was well prepared. Overall she gave the impression of a thoughtful, intelligent, responsible young lady.

_So why was she with the boy?_

And then I saw it. I saw the timetable she had printed out and carefully laid on her belongings. In all my conversations with Alice, I had never asked how many classes I had with Bella. I knew I had English with her, because of Alice's disturbing vision, but I was curious what other classes I would share with her. After she went downstairs, I glided back over to her window and snatched the piece of paper. With my perfect recall, I could have easily memorized her timetable, but I recklessly kept the paper which was lightly scented by her touch. I didn't even acknowledge to myself that she would notice it was missing. I was a man obsessed, and had big plans for the start of school.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Well, well! Edward's admitting to some pretty sketchy stuff!

Supernatural did a Twilight spoofy episode where Dean says something like "He's watching her sleep. How is that not rapey?" I nearly peed from laughing. Because outside of Twilight, it really is a creepy thing to do. I have no idea how SM made it sound romantic. I wanted Edward to acknowledge it's a pretty weird thing to do, intentions aside.

So - what did you think? You wish you had a hunk of man arm to molest at every chance you got? Wish someone would take care of you? Wish someone would watch you sleep? Let me know! I love hearing from you guys!


	10. The First Day of School

Chapter 10 – The First Day of School

BPOV

Without flaunting my nerdiness too much, I had actually always enjoyed school. I wasn't a standout student by any means. I felt that various forms of math were evil, but I had always enjoyed the challenge of it. A bookworm by nature, I had instinctively gravitated toward literature and creative writing. I even held a keen interest in science; into the 'why's' of the world. The part of school I dreaded was gym. The biggest thing I missed from Arizona was the fact that gym was only mandatory for one year. Forks High had made it a prerequisite for all four years of school. It was like my own personal version of hell.

There's no physical reason for it, but I fall down a lot. My mother had put me into dance lessons when I was a child, as many little girls' mothers do. Despite my evident awkwardness at such a young age, the teacher kept telling my mother that I would be a natural.

"Real dancers are clumsy because their body moves faster than their mind can keep up." To say I was clumsy was an understatement. After five torturous years of me stumbling through class, my teacher admitted that perhaps my clumsiness wasn't my inner dancer shining through after all.

Ball sports weren't my thing either. Despite Charlie's affection for any sport with a ball and Phil's ability to not only play, but coach almost any sport, it wasn't for lack of trying I wasn't able to play sports. Me and sports, we were never meant to be. I idly wondered if sitting in a comfy chair and reading a book would ever be considered a sport. Maybe if I could read really fast...

And it was with thoughts of speed reading that I pulled Jacob's Rabbit into the parking lot of school. I looked around and realised some of the other cars here were in the same condition as the Rabbit. My truck would definitely be one of the older vehicles, but wouldn't stand out too bad, until I turned it on and people could hear it. Then I saw that shiny silver Volvo from the Thriftway. I had completely forgotten about the Cullens until I saw the Volvo. I surreptitiously walked over to the car to give it a closer inspection to see if they were able to get the dent out. I was pleased to see it looked as good as new, when I heard a tiny tinkling laugh.

"I told you our sister could fix it!" Alice Cullen appeared seemingly out of nowhere and started giggling again. "Bella Swan, right? Nice to see you again, I'm..."

"Alice." I finished for her. "Nice to see you again too, Alice. I'm glad your sister was able to fix the damage from my runaway cart." I smiled at her. I looked around and found her brother standing a little off to the side eyeing us. "Does she go here too?" I asked.

"No, Rosalie graduated last year with Emmet and Jasper. It's just Edward and I this year." She turned and frowned at her brother. I couldn't believe how big their family was. Alice didn't really look like Edward, but they had similar features in the colour of their skin and eyes. Alice seemed to sense my confusion and offered up some personal information. "Carlisle and Esme are our adopted parents. They took us all in many years ago."

"That's really lovely of them. They must be wonderful people." I smiled tentatively, wondering how long we could discuss this before it became awkward for her.

"That is an understatement." Edward offered. I was surprised he joined our conversation. He hadn't said anything to me the last time we had met. "We're very lucky to have parents like Carlisle and Esme." I sensed he was going to say more but cut himself off. Awkward silence followed his statement until Alice piped up again.

"What's your schedule like Bella? Maybe we have some classes together?" I pulled my schedule out to compare it to the one in Alice's dainty hands. Alice and I shared Spanish and Gym together. I moaned at the thought of gym again.

"Ugh, gym. Why on earth do you have it for four years here?" I griped and I saw Edward suppress a chuckle. Given his athletic physique, he was probably a jock. Alice however looked delighted that I hated gym.

"It's my least favourite subject too!" She squealed. "I wish they had better electives here. I would take almost anything instead of gym. It's so boring!" Alice and I started walking towards to the school, while Edward trailed a few steps behind us. "Well here's where I leave you, but I'll see you next period!" And with that she bounded off towards building two, while I made my way around to building four. I was so intent on finding the right room, I hadn't noticed that Edward was still following me. I also didn't notice Mike Newton sidle up next to me until he touched my arm. Then I heard Edward ... growl? And it seemed like he was muttering to himself. He was sort of a strange guy.

"Bella! At last, we get you to ourselves here!" He turned and started walking backwards so he could face me while speaking. "You need help finding your classes? Please allow me." He grabbed my schedule out of my hands, and I was too shocked to do anything but follow along. "Ah, English with Mr. Berty. You lucky girl, I have that class too! We can walk to it together." Mike looked behind me, and seemed to notice that Edward was there. I glanced back over my shoulder, and found Edward scowling at us.

All three of us arrived at the classroom, to find it mostly empty. Jessica was seated with some of the other girls from the beach. When she saw Mike she lit up. She started waving frantically.

"Mike, hey I saved you a seat here!" She motioned to the desk next to her. "Oh hey, Bella! Nice to see you again. You want to join us?" She motioned to the seat on her other side, and one desk back. Since I had nowhere better to sit, I quietly walked over to the desk she suggested and started to unpack my bag. I noticed that Edward slipped into the seat behind me.

"So, Bella, you give any more consideration to our homecoming proposal?" Mike was leaning over Jessica's desk to talk to me. Jessica's eyes narrowed at the word "our", and then shot me a murderous glare, that she quickly tried to cover up.

_Ok, mental note: Jessica likes Mike._

"Um, not really." Truthfully I hadn't thought about it at all, and certainly hadn't really discussed it with Jacob.

"You should bring that hottie from the beach you were hanging out with." Jessica cut in. Her eyes cutting between me and Mike to gauge his reaction. "And maybe some of his friends." Mike made a face showing that he didn't like either idea.

I hated dances. But the thought of Jacob being there made it somewhat more bearable in my mind.

"I'll ask Jake if he and his friends are free. When is it?" I asked.

"September twenty-fifth." A voice from behind me said. All the heads in the room turned to look at the speaker, Edward Cullen. Everyone had their mouth gaping and there was more than one beat of complete silence. Mike seemed to recover first.

"Uh, yeah." Mike slowly turned his head back to my direction. Jessica's eyes glazed over and she openly gawked at Edward as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He ran his hands through that sex hair of his and then averted his eyes to look at his desk.

"Our team's big game against Port Angeles is on the twenty-fifth, so the dance will be after that." Mike tried to get my attention again.

_Did Edward not normally speak? _

"Tyler and I are on the team. You should come watch us play." Mike continued.

Jessica recovered from her swooning and nodded emphatically. I speculated she was either a cheerleader at the school, or just Mike's personal cheerleader. Then Mr. Berty walked in and announced the start of class. The syllabus he set wasn't too difficult. The benefit of being a bookworm was that I had usually read all the required texts for English class. I wondered if Renee thought it would be cheating if I asked her to send me some of my old essays.

The bell sounded, and Jessica accosted me as I left the confines of the classroom. She dragged me over to her locker and opened it loudly.

"Edward Fuckhot Cullen!" She whispered at me. "How on earth are you on a speaking basis with him? You've only been here a couple weeks!" She looked at me and shook her head. "Unbelievable." I wasn't really sure how to take that, although it felt like an insult.

"Um, it's really just Alice I've spoken with a few times. Edward usually doesn't say much." Jessica looked at me like I just told her snow was white. "But yeah, I guess I've spoken with him before. I kinda banged into his car with a shopping cart over the summer."

"Oh my gosh, I totally should try that. Seriously Bella, you've got some mad skills. First with the total babe in La Push, can you say muscles? What's his name – Jake? And now the hottest guy in school?" I noticed that Jessica had a tendency to talk at me, like I wasn't really there. I also surmised she didn't want me to actually answer any of the questions she was throwing at me.

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I gotta get to my next class, so I'll see you later ok?" I hurried away from Jessica and tried to find my next class. I was pretty sure it was in another building, but I wasn't sure where that building was. I turned a corner and literally bumped into a wall. Or rather I thought it was a wall. From my vantage point on my butt, I could see it was actually Edward.

"Need some help?" First day of school and I had fallen down already. In front of what was supposed to be the hottest guy at school.

_Awesome._

He offered his hand, and I begrudgingly accepted it. I noticed it was cold, like Alice's was the first time I met them. He pulled me up and suddenly I was very close to him. I looked up at his face and couldn't help but stare; his eyes were this butterscotch colour I had never seen before.

_Hold on. Last time his eyes were black. _

I distinctly remember deep, black eyes giving me the death stare over scratching his car.

"You have Spanish with Alice next, right? Me too. I could show you if you wanted." I felt a little dazed from my stumble. Taking into account my pre-occupation with his eye colour and I was clearly too out of it to answer him. I just nodded mutely and followed him out of this building, into the adjacent one. Alice met us at the door to the classroom.

"Hey, Bella! How was your first class at Forks High? Bored here yet?" Her laugh sounded like tiny silver bells. I smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Hi, Alice. So far so good, except for my usual clumsiness, which your brother got to witness firsthand." I blushed at the memory of falling down, and Edward made a weird face at me, then turned to walk down the aisle and sat down. Alice skipped down the aisle and sat in front of her brother, and motioned for me to sit in the desk next to hers. She somehow managed to make skipping look graceful. I stuck with plain old walking, and plopped into the seat.

"So everyone's talking about the homecoming dance. Are you planning on going?" She smiled and asked me. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Edward's lips say "Alice", but I didn't actually hear him say anything, and I couldn't be sure of what I saw. She didn't react to it, so I must have imagined it.

"Yeah, the dance." I tried to sound enthused, but even I could hear the flatness in my voice. "Um, I've never really been to a dance before, so I guess I don't know what to expect." I wondered if Jake had ever been to a school dance. Alice looked at me with shock on her face. I even noticed Edward's head tilted slightly in my direction, and he looked surprised as well. I tried to laugh it off. "Ssh. It's a secret. I'm really boring. Ha. Ha." I guess I wasn't funny because Alice just kept staring at me. Like most of the other kids in the classroom.

_Right. New Kid._ _Or was it because I was talking to the Cullens?_

I guess I wouldn't know until my next class.

"You've. Never. Been. To. A. Dance?" Alice seemed affronted, like I'd personally insulted her with this information. "Well are you planning on going to this one?" She demanded.

"Um. I dunno. I was going to ask Jacob what he thought. I'm assuming we need dates or something right?" Alice looked confused.

"Who's Jacob?"

"Jacob's my boyfriend. He lives in La Push." Alice looked at Edward like he was supposed to know this information and have passed it along to her, which made no sense at all. Then she got this glazed over look on her face, and turned to face the front of the room. So maybe Alice was a little strange too. I wondered if it was a Cullen family trait.

The rest of the school day was pretty much how I expected my first day to go, with one small snag. I never got to figure out if people were staring at me because I was new or whether it was because I was talking to a Cullen, because Edward was in every single one of my classes. Every one. And in every class he made some effort to say something to me. So I never got a clear picture of why people were staring at me, I was just painfully aware that they were.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Ok - so some of you might be thinking "Hey, why doens't Bella's scent seem to be affecting Edward?"

It will be dealt with in the next chapter, but I wanted to get back to JPOV first, so you may have to wait for the complete story. To sum it up it's a combo of all Eddie boy's stalkiness in Bella's room, and the fact that she had driven Jacob's car to school. Hmm...that pretty much just gave it away eh? Ok, it will be dealt with in _more detail_ in the next chapter.


	11. Small Victories

Chapter 11 – Small Victories

EPOV

"Well, Edward, I'd say since you didn't kill her, your first day at school was a huge success!" Emmet pounded me on the back and gave me a huge smile. "Way to be, bro!" He settled himself on the couch and started looking for a football game to watch.

It looked like despite Emmet's props, Alice was still put out with me.

"_How could you not tell me she had a boyfriend?"_ Alice had been silently berating me since Spanish at every opportunity she could. Jasper entered the room, took in Alice's emotions and mine and turned on me.

"Ok, Edward, what did you do to piss off Alice?" Alice skipped over to her husband and stuck her tiny tongue out at me.

"Alice is under the impression that I am to report every detail of Bella's life to her, despite the fact that she is PSYCHIC!" I was irritated that Alice was still complaining to me about something she should have been able to see herself.

"She's all fuzzy." Alice frowned. "Anytime I try to see her outside of school she gets fuzzy, and it's making me mad!" Alice stamped her tiny foot. "My visions used to be perfect before we met her. I still see her and I being friends, but anything other than that is blurry, and it's giving me a headache. Vampires don't get headaches!"

Carlisle was up in his study, but we all heard him respond to our conversation in the living room.

"It would seem like this girl becomes more and more of a mystery to us." He appeared at the top of the stairs to address us more directly. "Alice, are any of your other visions affected?" Alice's eyes glazed over several times.

"It doesn't seem like it. Emmett will lose to Jazz at Madden today. Rose's part for the Jeep arrives tomorrow. We should invest in RIM next quarter." Her eyes unclouded and she looked up at Carlisle. "Everything seems fine unless I try to see into Bella's future. I can't even tell if she's going to the dance or not." Alice stuck her bottom lip out and pouted. Jasper reached over and kissed her stupid, pouty lip.

"Perhaps for the time being, the most prudent solution is for you to stop looking for Bella until we know more." Carlisle smiled at us all and returned to his study. I followed him up the stairs to seek some solitude in my room.

While Emmett may have considered the day a huge success, I wasn't so positive about the whole experience. The smell issue wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Of course the desensitization I had been putting myself through helped. But the most important change was that Bella smelled like dog again today. I assume it's because she had been driving that VW Rabbit instead of her monster truck. That tiny change made it considerably easier for me to converse with her in class. Of course that in itself seemed to draw attention. I was making mistakes everywhere. Neither Alice nor I usually chatted up our fellow classmates, so I immediately caught the shock in everyone's thoughts when I tried to participate in their conversation.

My biggest mistake was touching her. Well I'm actually delighted I had the opportunity to feel her smooth skin as I helped her off the floor, but it was a mistake nonetheless. Firstly, I shouldn't allow myself such luxuries like touching her. What right did I have as a monster to be allowed to feel delicate features such as hers? Secondly, she may have been more observant that I initially gave her credit for. When I pulled her up our eyes met, and she looked bewildered and then very much shocked. While I couldn't read her mind, I was still fairly astute at reading body language. I recalled the first time that she met me my eyes were black. Today, after extensive hunting to prepare myself for school, they would have been their usual topaz colour. I couldn't be positive that she remembered, but the look on her face was etched into my mind. I'm almost sure she noticed the difference. I would have to be more careful tomorrow.

BPOV

I was pretty happy when I came home from school to find a handsome young Quileute sitting on my front porch. The school on the rez gets out about forty-five minutes before ours does.

"Jake! What are you doing here?" I smiled as he picked me up and swung me around. Then he pulled me into one of his bear hugs.

"I came to see my two favourite girls." He set me down and winked at me.

"Ha ha. You're so funny." I smacked him on the arm. "Don't worry, I was very gentle on her."

"Sure, sure. You know you love my sense of humour. In reality I come bearing homework and groceries!" He lifted his backpack in one hand, and two grocery bags in the other. I noticed how the motion made the muscles ripple in his arm. Apparently Jacob noticed me noticing him.

"Bells...are you ogling me?" He raised his eyebrow up at me.

"Nnno." I stammered. I felt the tomato blush creeping up my hairline. Jacob threw his arm around my shoulder and led me into the house.

"Bells, honey, I totally just busted you ogling me." Jacob had a huge grin on his face. We dumped our backpacks in the living room and started to unpack the groceries he brought over. I was still unable to stammer out a more convincing lie, and I was still bright red. "Bells?" I was looking anywhere but at Jacob. He gently pulled my chin up so that he could look me in the eye. He leaned down and gently kissed my cheek, then whispered into my ear. "Bells, honey, don't be embarrassed. I ogle you all the time." Jacob chuckled, and I couldn't help but giggle along with him.

I tried to change to topic.

"So what exactly are all these groceries for? Are you expecting me to feed you? After you bust me ogling you?" I tried to act all tough, but I still had a mild case of the giggles. Jake lifted me onto the counter so my feet were swinging, but I could look him in the eye easier. Then he positioned himself between my legs, and leaned in for a kiss.

"Ahh, so you admit you were ogling me. Anything you want to do about it?" Jacob started kissing me deeper, and my legs impulsively wrapped around his waist. His hand traced up my side and cupped my neck, holding back my hair. I instinctually started fisting his hair to bring his face closer to mine. He tenderly tilted my head back so he could start kissing my neck. He moved slowly along my jaw line to my ear. "Did you like what you saw Bella?" he whispered.

"Mmm hmm." I managed to mumble. I couldn't really form a cohesive thought while Jacob was kissing me like that. I felt his tongue slide along my neck, and then flick my ear.

"Would you like to see more?" he asked.

I answered him by pulling on the bottom of his shirt, and lifting it over his head. Jacob's skin was so beautiful. It was hard to describe the exact colour of it, but the closest I could come up with was a silky russet colour. It looked so dark with my pale hand against it. I traced the contours of his arms that led into his shoulders, then down his chest to his abs. The hard muscles contracted, as I ghosted over them with my fingers.

"You have no idea how good it feels to have you do that." His voice had gotten huskier, deeper. He easily lifted me up and took me to the living room. He sat on the sofa, and positioned me on top of him, straddling his lap. I leaned in and started running my hands along his back. I licked my tongue along Jacob's lips and he opened his mouth, allowing my tongue entrance. He pulled my lower lip into his mouth and sucked gently on it. I felt his hands move up my side again, but this time he hovered over my chest.

"Bells, is this okay?" He paused to ask me. I simply nodded, and continued my assault on him. He gently massaged my left breast with his hand, and glided his thumb over my hardened nipple. I moaned into his mouth when he did that, so then he did the same with the other breast. I felt him stiffen beneath me. And by him, I mean his significantly sized length. Now I didn't have a lot of experience with these things, but it seemed really big, even constricted in his jeans. When he brushed my nipples again, I began rubbing myself against his bulge searching for some friction. He groaned into my neck.

"Oh God, Bells. You doing that is so fucking hot." He reached his hand under my shirt, and peeled back the cup of my bra to caress my breast directly. His hands were so warm against my skin. He flicked my nipples with his thumbs, and I rubbed myself against him in earnest. I could feel significant dampness in my panties. I opened my eyes to look at Jake, and was surprised to see the expression on his face. His eyes were shut tightly, as if he was concentrating very hard on something, and he looked somewhat pained. I immediately stopped what I was doing.

"Jake, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Since I had no idea what I was doing, I assumed that I had squished him in some way. I slid off his lap onto the couch next to him.

"Huh. Wah?" Jake's eyes fluttered open, and he looked at me confused. "Bells, that was amazing, why did you think you hurt me, and why did you stop?" Now I was confused.

"Jake, I opened my eyes, and you looked like you were in pain, and you were thinking really hard. I thought I squished you or something." I caressed his face with my hand as he flushed slightly at my comment.

"Firstly, Bells, you're so tiny. You could never squish me, or hurt me, so please never worry about that again. And yeah, er...I was concentrating." He gave me this knowing glance. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Concentrating on what? I thought we were, you know, making out? I didn't think it needed lots of deep thought?" I was really confused by what Jacob was saying. He sighed and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

"Oh, Bells. I'm a guy. I was concentrating on not...you know...ahh shit, you're going to make me say this aren't you?" He looked at me, but smiled gently. "I was trying not to blow my load." That hung in the air for enough time for me to feel properly abashed for not realising what his knowing glance meant. I immediately went red from head to toe. Then we both started laughing.

_Wow, I must be the dumbest girl in existence._

"Jake, I'm so sorry. I had no idea! I thought I hurt you!"

"Bells, please, don't apologize. These last few minutes may have been the best in my life." He stood up off the couch, and tried to discreetly adjust himself. I looked away to attempt to make things a little easier. "Bells, why don't we get started on supper? I brought groceries over because Billy is coming over for dinner to watch the game, and he wanted to contribute since you and Charlie are always hosting us."A light went off in my head, as I remembered the bags that had started this whole incident.

"We can get started on homework once everything is cooking. I don't know about you, but for the first day, my teachers actually assigned us homework! Can you believe it?" Jake was laughing as he headed back to the kitchen, and fished his shirt off the floor. "Best I put this on, so you don't maul me again." He wiggled his eyebrows at me to let me know he was joking.

By the time Charlie and Billy arrived, we had not only finished preparing dinner, but we had also finished our homework. We didn't have any further _distractions_ due to my epic fail in recognizing what poor Jacob was doing for my benefit. I felt that I shouldn't add to his discomfort by trying to get something started again. I vaguely remembered discussions of "blue balls" from health class in Phoenix.

As the four of us sat around for dinner, Charlie started firing away with questions.

"How was the first day at your new school, kiddo?" He asked while spearing a piece of potato onto his fork.

"It was alright." I shrugged. "I found all my classes. Ran into some of the kids I met on the beach. They seemed nice." I smiled at the memory of Angela. She had been in two of my classes, and had made it a point to introduce herself, and remind me of her name twice. She was exceptionally kind, and I had a feeling we would become friends over the school year. She appeared to be quiet and bookish like me.

"Your teachers alright?" He asked.

"They seem fine. I've never really had a problem with teachers before."

"You gonna have some of them over next week?" Charlie offered.

"Who, my teachers?" Why would Charlie ask me if I was having teachers over? Billy laughed.

"I think he meant your new friends, hun." Billy winked at me.

"Why would I do that?" I wasn't exactly the type of girl to invite people over for no reason. This was turning into a confusing line of questioning.

"Your birthday." Charlie answered simply.

_Blargh. _

If there were two things you should know about me it is the following; I don't like situations where I am the centre of attention, and I don't like receiving gifts. I think the gift thing ties into the centre of attention thing. So maybe it's really just one thing I don't like.

"Blargh." I echoed my mind's sentiment. "No thanks. I'd rather not." I made a face, and took a long drink of my water.

"Now, Bella," Charlie started. "Eighteen is a big deal. You should celebrate it." Jacob took my hand over the table, and started rubbing circles into the back of my hand with his thumb.

"Bells, how about a compromise?" Jacob winked at my dad. I took some offense to them ganging up on me, but patiently waited out Jacob's explanation. "I know you don't like being the centre of attention. So how about instead of a big house party, we have a bonfire down at the Rez? It'll be like the first time you met most of them anyways, so it's comfortable territory?" He smiled at me, then gave me some very convincing puppy dog eyes. I had to admit, Jacob's solution sounded pretty good to me. I'd witnessed firsthand how people can dissolve into little groups at a bonfire, so not everyone would be focused on me all night.

"Well..." I started. "That sounds doable. But no presents!" I added. Maybe I wouldn't even have to tell people it's my birthday. I could just invite them to a bonfire.

Since Jacob's solution for my birthday seemed so amenable I broached the subject of the dance with him while we were doing the dishes.

"Jake, there's this dance at school at everyone's really pumped about..." I began.

"The homecoming." He interjected.

"How did you...?" I asked. He tapped his temple.

"I remember Newton asking you about it at the bonfire. Also, this is a small town. Everyone, including Charlie and Billy, knows about the dance." He motioned his head towards our fathers in the living room. "They gossip like old women you know." Jake winked at me, and splashed some suds my way.

"Haha, mostly I thought they gossiped about you and me. Anyways, I don't really like dances. Scratch that. I've never been to a dance. They seem intimidating. But I thought if you came with me it would be better. Or better yet, if the guys came, then it would feel more like a group thing?" I had started rambling somewhat hoping that Jacob would cut me off soon.

"You've never been to a dance?" Jacob's reaction wasn't as shocked as the Cullens. "I guess I could see that, especially if you've never dated before. But still, you're totally superhot, so I can't believe no one ever asked you." Jacob looked at me somewhat bewildered and shook his head.

"Yeah, well, you know me, super awkward and all." I shrugged my shoulders and concentrated on a scrubbing the fry pan. The self conscious part of me noticed that Jacob still hadn't said he would come to the dance with me.

"So what, am I like pimping out my friends to make you more comfortable?" Jacob turned around and started putting away the dishes he dried.

"Oh my gosh, Jake, no! I'm so sorry, it was such a stupid idea. Never mi..." I started to freak out, but then Jacob cut me off.

"Bella! Chill! I was just joking around! Quil is gonna have a coronary. Not only does he get to go to your school dance, he gets to meet the girls at the bonfire the week before." Jacob grinned at me, and I smacked his arm.

"You jerk! I thought you...oh never mind." I put the fry pan in the drying rack. "So you'll go with me?"

"Of course, you silly girl! Like I could ever say no to you?" He winked at me and pulled me towards the living room. "Now, I assume hot dogs and root beer are satisfactory for your big shindig? If you're nice, I may even bring marshmallows." He plopped onto the couch and pulled me down next to him.

"Marshmallows huh?" Charlie looked at us as we sat down. "This one's a keeper Bells. Marshmallows are delicious."

**Chapter End Notes:**

Charlie is right. Marshmallows are delcious, especially roasted over a fire.

So what did you think of the awkward end to the makeout session? Remember they are young and inexperienced! Don't hate me for ending the start of a perfectly good makeout. I hope to include many more! In my head, Jacob doesn't have these kinds of problems once he phases (hint, hint).


	12. Preparations

Chapter 12 - Preparations

JPOV

"Dude, where is he?" I was pacing around the garage, impatiently waiting for Embry to show up. Quil just sat there chugging a soda. "I thought you said he was better?"

"He said he was. He missed like two weeks of school. Maybe he's forgotten how to tell time." Quil shrugged his shoulders and started flipping through a car magazine I had left on my workbench. "Dude, chill out. We'll both help you out with Bella's party. It's not rocket science; it's a bonfire."

Quil was probably right. I was worrying more than necessary for a bonfire. Usually they were more spur of the moment things, as opposed to pre-planned events, but I wanted everything to be perfect for Bella. Even if she hadn't told her classmates it was a birthday party for her, I wanted her to know that I still thought her birth was worth celebrating.

I had extended my pacing to outside the garage, just as Embry came into view. He wasn't alone.

"Quil." I hissed. "Get over here. You're not going to believe this." Quil reluctantly got up and gave me a sceptical look, which quickly changed into disbelief when he saw Embry. Embry was casually walking to my place, and nonchalantly chatting up Mr. Tribe Protector himself, Sam Uley. Embry looked over to us and sheepishly waved when he saw Quil and I gawking.

"Hello, Jacob. Hello, Quil." Sam greeted us and extended out his hand. Since my brain hadn't quite caught up yet, I shook his hand, and nodded mutely. I noticed his hand was slightly warmer than mine, which was unusual because lately most people felt cold to me. Quil was looking at the ground, and said nothing.

"What brings you by, Sam?" I found my voice, and looked directly at him. He seemed to tense and it almost appeared as if his eyes changed when I spoke to him. For a second, I thought I was going crazy, but realised it must have been the sun reflecting or something.

"Very direct, Jacob. I like that." He smiled at me, and seemed to lose the tension he was carrying. "Embry here was mentioning that you were planning a bonfire for your girlfriend, and were planning on inviting some of the kids from town. Just thought I'd stop by to see if you needed any help." I took a few moments to compose myself before speaking again. I didn't buy his offer of help, but understood it to be him 'watching' to make sure we behaved. Sam had been slowly recruiting some of the older kids on the rez into almost policing some of the younger kids. Rumour had it they had even chased off some guy who can come down to try to sell drugs.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Sam. Don't worry; we're not planning some huge bender you need to protect the tribe from. It's a small birthday party for Bella. Quil, Embry and I can handle it. Bella's shy, so we'd like to keep it as small as possible." Quil nodded as I spoke. Sam took his time considering what I was saying. He exchanged a quick look with Embry, which was super bizarre and then addressed me again.

"I understand your concern, Jacob. Perhaps you could just let me know which of Bella's friends would be coming?" His tone and request were very polite, but I couldn't help but detect an underlying demand to the question.

"I don't know all their names, but I'm pretty sure they have all been to the beach before. I'd say probably not more than a dozen of us in total." I let some of my irritation leak through and turned to face Embry. "Dude, you met them all at the bonfire in the summer. You can tell Sam their names just as well as I can, so what the hell is going on here?" Embry sighed and looked at Sam. Sam nodded at him.

"I remember you saying that Bella had met the Cullens and dented their car. We were just wondering if Bella had made friends with them, and if they were also coming." Embry looked at the ground the whole time he spoke.

Quil scoffed and spoke for the first time since their arrival.

"Are you fucking kidding me? This whole ordeal has been to see if Bella's friends with the Cullens? Embry, don't tell me you now believe in the wacky old stories from the tribe?" Quil turned to face Embry, but Embry was still looking at the ground. I shook my head, still unsure as to what was going on here.

"This is ridiculous. Why are we even having this conversation?" I looked between Sam and Embry but neither said anything. Sam looked at me expectantly. It dawned on me that he was still waiting for an answer.

_This is stupid. Just tell them, and maybe Sam will leave._

"Yes. Bella is friends with the Cullens, at least with two of them. Alice, I think her name is, is taking her shopping for a dress for the dance as we speak. No. They are not coming to the party. They were going camping or something." Sam and Embry exchanged a worried glance. In fact, Embry looked devastated.

_What the hell is going on here?_

"Jacob. Are you sure it's wise to let Bella be alone with her?" Sam folded his arms over his chest and looked down at me. "Are you able to reach Bella now?"

"Sam! What the fuck? I'm not some controlling boyfriend. Bella can hang out with whoever she wants. I don't really put much stock into your stupid legend. If Bella says they're alright, that's good enough for me." I threw my hands up in exasperation. This conversation had gone from awkward to bizarre. Embry's reaction was what worried me the most.

"Jake." Embry started quietly. "Can you call her now and see where she is?"I stared at him, not quite sure I could believe my ears.

"Are you joking? She's in Port Angeles. Where else would she be?" This was so out of character for Embry. I could tell Quil was put off by his question as well. "No, I'm not going to call her. This is so stupid. What the hell is wrong with you two?"

What had Sam done to Embry? Embry, who used to get just as irritated as Quil and I whenever we saw Sam and his cronies 'protecting the peace'. I needed to get Embry alone.

"Sam, if I call Bella, will you leave? I mean, this is all you wanted to know right? So if I call her and confirm the Cullens aren't coming to the party, will you leave, and let Embry stay here?" I felt a little rude asking him to leave, but at this point, I was way outside of my comfort zone to care.

Sam chuckled.

"Embry is free to stay with his friends of course. I simply happened to run into him on the way over here. And yes, I will leave after you call Bella." I felt like he was lying, but also that he was somehow telling the truth. Or rather there was a double meaning behind his words. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I was getting the craziest vibe from Sam. I was not usually a big 'feelings' guy.

I fished my cell out of my pocket and hit the speed dial. Bella picked up on the third ring.

"Jake, you need to rescue me. I'm being tortured."

My head shot up and I looked Sam in the eyes. He seemed to have heard what Bella said, and gave Embry a sharp nod.

"Alice has taken me..." she began. Embry now looked full on panicked, and started pacing. "...shoe shopping!" Bella exclaimed dramatically. Embry stopped dead in his tracks. "Ugh! I'm never going to a dance again!" I laughed. Of course that would be her logical conclusion.

"Hey, baby. Sorry I bothered you. I'll let you get back to your girl time."

"You'd better like what I'll be wearing. It's been quite a day of shopping. I can't believe she convinced me to do this with her." I could hear how tired she was in her voice. And then I tried not to think about the possibility of Bella in a dress. The last thing I needed was to sprout wood in front of everyone here.

"I know you'll look beautiful. Hey, is Alice still not coming to the party?" I heard a muffled whisper then Bella came back.

"No, she's still going camping."

"Ok, well have fun. Later, honey." I hung up the phone and let myself feel relieved before I felt thoroughly ludicrous for having called her in the first place. I turned on Sam.

"There. No Cullens. Your stupid prejudices almost made me over react to nothing, thinking something was wrong when it clearly wasn't. And while we're on that, are you going to explain why it seems like you can hear people on my phone?" I tried giving Sam the same look he had given me earlier. I didn't really have much success with that.

"Jacob, you're imagining things. I didn't hear anything. And as promised, I'll be on my way now. Quil, Embry." He gave Embry a stern look, and then left, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Quil just about exploded.

"Embry...what the FUCK!" Quil got right up in Embry's face, and Embry backed up two big steps. He took a deep breath and looked at both of us.

"Just like Sam said. He ran into me on the way over and we got to talking. He just wanted to be sure that the Cullens weren't coming onto our land." Embry recited. It sounded rehearsed. In fact it sounded over rehearsed. Quil wasn't buying it either.

"Whatever, dude. That was fucked up." Quil went back inside the garage, and grabbed the magazine he had previously abandoned when this whole disaster started. "Now, onto more important matters. Which of Bella's friends do you want, because I think I'm going to try my luck with the blonde."

BPOV

I hate shopping. I'm more of a 'it's comfy, so I'll wear it for six years' kind of girl. So when Alice asked what I would be wearing to the dance, I didn't have an answer for her. Having never gone to a dance, I clearly was out of my element and had no idea what was dance appropriate. Alice, it seemed, loved any excuse for shopping and demanded we go to Port Angeles this weekend.

"Please, Bella! Let me help you shop for the dance. I know I could totally find you something amazing!" She was literally begging me at this point.

"Just so you know, Bella. No one in our family argues with Alice. It's generally best to let her have her way." Edward joked. Alice elbowed him in the ribs. "I would be happy to drive you both there this weekend if you like."

"No fair." I complained. "You guys are ganging up on me."

"Don't you want to get something to catch Jacob's eye, Bella?" Alice asked, not so innocently. I couldn't help but notice Edward grimace when Alice said Jake's name.

It was times like this when I found Edward a little...peculiar. During the last two weeks, I observed that he would have bizarre reactions to things. Like when I told Jessica that Jacob and the guys would be coming to the dance. Edward looked irritated and then pleased. Or when I informed everyone about the bonfire, he looked excited and then unhappy when I told him where it was. No one else seemed to notice his strange behaviour, or the fact that sometimes it looked like he was talking to Alice, but I couldn't hear anything. Alice never said anything in response. It was...odd. In any event, they had both become good friends, and I was a little disappointed they wouldn't be able to come to my birthday bonfire.

In the end I accepted both the ride and the shopping advice, since I had to return Jacob's Rabbit to him anyway, and I wasn't sure the truck would make it lengthy distances. And Alice was right, there was a small part of me that wanted to 'wow' Jake at the dance.

Edward and Alice came to pick me up bright and early Saturday morning so we could get a "head start" on the shopping, as Alice put it. I met them outside, but when I got to the car, I noticed Alice sitting in the back, leaving me the shotgun seat. I opened the front door and popped only my head in.

"Alice, are you sure you don't want to sit in the front? I don't want to make you sit in the back of your brothers' car." I frowned, and looked between her and Edward, who was in the process of rolling down all four windows.

"No, no, Bella, don't be silly. I'm not going to invite you to go shopping, and then stick you in the back seat! Please go ahead and sit down!" She motioned for me to get all the way in the car. I settled myself into the car, and started to do up my seat belt, when Edward tore out of my driveway, driving towards Port Angeles at breakneck speed. I felt all the blood rush out of my face as I gripped the seat.

"Good morning, Bella." Edward offered.

"Um...good morning?" I couldn't think of anything else to say since all my mind could process was how quickly we were going.

"What's wrong, Bella? You seem...afraid?" Edward asked sadly.

"Um...you drive like a maniac and I'm afraid for my life?" I asked. I couldn't figure out why he was sad, but also didn't really care as trees zoomed by as a blur of green. Apparently my answer was funny because both Edward and Alice started laughing.

"You're afraid for your life from my driving?" He asked, somewhat shocked.

"Hello! Police chief's daughter. I have a healthy respect for the law." I shot back. Edward just shook his head.

"Sometimes I don't get you, Bella." He slowed the car down to thirty over the limit and smiled at me. "Better?" He took a look at me still clutching me seat, and slowed down even more. When he reached twenty over the limit I released my death clutch of his seat. He sighed. "I hate driving slow."

"Yes, well, I'd hate to be wrapped around a tree, so we'll just have to compromise." I added. Alice just laughed. Unsurprisingly we reached Port Angeles in record time, and Edward pulled into the only department store in town.

Alice was a force of nature. I had gone on some shopping trips with my mom back in Arizona, but clearly I'd never had the 'Alice Cullen Shopping Experience'. She guided Edward and I immediately to the dress section, and was a flurry of limbs and fabric gathering up various dresses for me to try on. I hadn't even told her what size I was.

"It's best to just roll with it, Bella." Edward gave me a half crooked smile. "Alice knows what's she's doing. You're in good hands."

"Yes, yes. I'm a fashion guru." Alice interrupted. "No boys in the change room. Shoo." Alice made a flicking motion with her hands, and then followed me into the change room.

"I'll just sit down here...with your purse...awkwardly then." Edward called from outside the room. I stifled a giggle. He was actually pretty funny sometimes.

I thought I would be self-conscious having Alice in the dressing room with me, but turns out it's damn near impossible to zip up dresses by yourself, so in the end I was grateful for her presence. She also had an uncanny eye for clothes. Everything she picked out for me looked complimentary on my pale skin, and created curves I didn't know I had. Alice had just finished helping me into the last dress, and as I turned to face her, I heard an audible gasp from outside the room.

"Edward? Was that you? Are you okay?" I called out. Alice seemed oblivious to the noise I heard, and was analysing my outfit.

"Bella. This is THE dress. The one that's going to wow people." Alice had me turn in front of her to see all the angles.

"Really?" I analysed myself in the mirror. The dress had a deep V neck top creating the illusion of more cleavage than I actually had. The rest of the dress was fitted very tightly to my body in layers of dark blue. It reminded me of how a mummy would be bandaged up. I felt somewhat exposed as it left very little to the imagination, but what did I know about fashion? I popped my head out of the dressing room.

"Edward?" He had been pacing down by the mirror. "Edward, I need a guys' opinion. What do you think?" I tentatively walked towards him. He stopped to look up at me.

"I think you look stunning, Bella. Truly lovely." He gave me that half crooked smile again.

"Do you think Jacob will like it?" I asked. Edward paused before answering me.

"I think he won't know what hit him." He replied. He then sat down, and looked lost in thought. Alice reappeared, and had brought several pairs of shoes with her.

"No way, Alice. There's no way I can walk around in those death traps. I'll break my ankle!" I slowly back up until I realised I was right up against Edward's chair. My butt brushed up against his arm. I heard him gasp again.

"C'mon, Bella. You can't wear your Chucks to the dance." I gazed at the shoes in horror, when I heard my cell phone go off. I ran as fast as I could in my bandage dress, and grabbed the phone – I saw it was Jake on the caller id.

"Jake, you need to rescue me. I'm being tortured." I began. "Alice has taken me..." I paused for what I thought was dramatic effect. "...shoe shopping!" It was so easy to be silly be with Jacob. "Ugh! I'm never going to a dance again!" I feigned dismay.

"Hey, baby. Sorry I bothered you. I'll let you get back to your girl time." Aww, he's so sweet.

"You'd better like what I'll be wearing. It's been quite a day of shopping. I can't believe she convinced me to do this with her." I still couldn't believe how un-me this was. Going to a dance, shopping for dresses, worrying about how I'd look in front of Jake, I was a like a new person.

"I know you'll look beautiful. Hey, is Alice still not coming to the party?" I put the phone to my chest and turned to Alice.

"Hey, are you still going camping later? You can't make the bonfire?"

"Sorry, Bella. Our family leaves later this afternoon." She frowned at me, and looked disappointed.

"No, she's still going camping." I told Jake.

"Ok, well have fun. Later, honey." He replied and hung up the phone. That was a little more abrupt than our usuall calls, but maybe he was busy.

"Jacob?" She asked.

"Yeah, he wanted to double check to see if you'd changed your mind." Alice looked...surprised?

"Oh." I think she misunderstood his call. I tried to explain further to her.

"I think he's just trying to make sure everything's perfect because the bonfire's for my birthd..." I cut myself off and used my hands to cover my mouth. I had promised myself not to tell anyone at school that this was for my birthday.

"Bella! Is this party for your birthday?" Alice exclaimed. There was no use in denying it, I had basically just told her anyways.

"Yeah." I added sheepishly. "I turn eighteen tomorrow. So the party tonight is for my birthday." Alice pulled me into a big hug.

"Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry that we can't come." Alice was pouting.

"Alice! Please don't worry about it. I hate people making a fuss over my birthday, that's why I didn't tell anyone. I completely understand that your family goes camping." I felt awful. This is exactly why I hadn't told anyone, I didn't want them to feel obligated to come. Alice looked like someone had just killed her cat.

She helped me out of the dress in silence. After I had the dress off, and was mostly dressed back into my regular clothes, Alice had gathered up the blue dress and a scary pair of shoes, and flew out of the dressing room.

"These are on me, Bella! Happy Birthday!" she called out, now sounding pretty far away.

"What? Alice, no!" I hopped around the change room trying to put my shoe back on so I could chase her down. I charged out of the dressing room, only to run right into Edward...again. He steadied me by the waist, and prevented me from falling on my butt this time.

"She's already at the register." He gently set me back on my feet.

"I didn't tell her so she'd do that." I tried to explain. This was a ridiculously extravagant gift.

"Bella, consenting to Alice giving you this gift would make her truly happy. She loves fashion and shopping, and being able to share that with you would please her greatly. Please allow her to do this for you." He ran his hand through his hair and looked at me pleadingly.

"Oh, alright." I allowed. "But please nothing else. I feel terrible."

"You won't let me get you something as well?" He asked softly. I looked up and his golden eyes were sad.

_Oh boy, here comes the guilt._

"Edward." I whined. "Please don't buy me anything. I really only told Alice by accident. No one coming even knows." He seemed cheered by my request.

"I agree to your terms." He led me out of the change room towards Alice bouncing by a cashier.

"Um...sorry. What terms?" I was confused.

"You'll see. Now let's get you back to Forks for your birthday party." He laughed as I rolled my eyes.

The three of us left the store with Alice and I arm in arm as she was talking a mile a minute about the dress and the dance, and plans for my hair and makeup.

**Chapter End Notes:**

So - what's up with Embry? First he was sick, and now he's hanging out with Sam. Weird right? I'm sure most of you have figured it out by now. ;)

So - next chappie - bonfire and if I can swing it - the long awaited dance!

Here's a pic of Bella's dress, but her's is in dark blue of course: . ?main_page=popup_image&pID=865


	13. Your Kiss is Like Fire

Chapter 13 – Your Kiss is Like Fire

SM owns these characters, I just like to make them do stuff that they didn't do in the books!

So - Bella's bday bonfire. And then...stuff happens. Yeah, that's right. Stuff.

JPOV

Bella led a convoy of her friends to the beach, just as the sun lay low over the cliffs. Quil, Embry and I had already started the fire, so when they arrived, the flames were about two feet high.

Although Quil was still kinda pissed at Embry, he seemed anxious to see "the blonde" one again. He kept asking us if he looked good. I told him he looked like a tool, and then proceeded to unpack the food we had lugged down to beach. Embry busied himself setting up a sound dock to plug his iPod into so we'd have some music.

I started towards the parking lot when I saw she had arrived. Quil and Embry followed me. Quil, I'm assuming to catch a glimpse of the girls, and I guess Embry followed so he wouldn't be left alone.

"Hey, Jake!" Bella called out. I rushed forward and picked her up, swinging her around.

"Heya, Beautiful!" I gave her a deep kiss before setting her on the ground.

"Um, wow! Hello, man meat!" I heard the curly haired one whisper to the blonde one. Bella hadn't seemed to have heard her. I wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulder as we walked back to the bonfire.

Bella waited until everyone was seated before introductions.

"So...um, yeah. Not sure if everyone remembers people from the summer. But this is my boyfriend Jacob, and his friends Quil and Embry." She gestured to each of us, like she was doing a presentation at school.

_God, how I loved this girl._

"Guys, these are my friends from school. This is Angela and Ben." she reminded us as she pointed to a couple at the edge of the group. "That's Jessica and Lauren. And the guys over there are Mike, Tyler and Eric." Everyone kinda half nodded when their name was called.

"You guys have really changed since we saw you last." Lauren said as she flipped her hair back.

"We totally didn't recognize you." Jessica chimed in. "Bella says you're coming to the dance? That's awesome!" The two of them sauntered over to the log that Quil and Embry were standing near, and sat down in the middle of it. Quil eagerly sat next to Lauren, and Embry fiddled with his iPod, essentially ignoring Jessica. I struggled to stifle a laugh.

Angela and Ben came and sat with Bella and I, while Newton, Tyler and Eric took up the other log. I started handing out sticks and hot dogs to everyone. Bella passed around the cooler full of soda.

Everyone chatted in their little groups. I looked up from my conversation with Ben about some new martial arts moving he was pumped about, to grab another soda, when I saw Newton rolling his eyes at Jessica's obvious attempts to flirt with Embry; followed by him eyeing Bella up and down. I casually threw my arm around her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek, cutting into Newton's eyeline.

"You play any sports, Jacob?" Mike called out to me across the fire. "A big kid like you must play something right?" I chuckled under my breath, I got that a lot.

"Not really. I guess I never really tried out." I enjoyed watching sports, but I never really played. We didn't have a lot of money, and sports required equipment, which could get costly. I think Quil had a football we used to toss around sometimes.

"Too bad. Thought we might have a small game on the beach here, you know, give the girls a sneak preview of our big game before the dance?" He produced a football, and started tossing it up in the air. Jessica squealed; it really hurt my ears.

"Ooh, Embry, do you play?" She seemed somewhat attached to Embry's arm.

"Uh..." Embry looked at me and was clearly trying to figure out how to answer without a repeat squeal. His ears were much closer than mine. Quil of course jumped in for everyone.

"None of us play at school, but we'd be down for a quick game on the beach." He winked at Lauren. The sun was still low in the horizon, plenty of light for a fast game.

Newton seemed to like what he heard.

"Nice. Tyler, Eric and I versus you three." He got up from the log, and walked down the beach, drawing lines in the sand periodically. It was obvious that he was trying to impress the girls, most notably my girl. Except for the fact that if he knew Bella at all, he'd know that sports do not impress her.

"Good luck kiss?" I asked her. She reached up and put her hand on my face and pulled me down to her level, before she swept her tongue over my lips, and kissed me hard, crashing her whole body against me. It seemed that Bella didn't really like the way Mike was eyeing her either.

"You kids can handle full tackle in the sand right?" He tossed the ball to me. I noticed it was the second time he referred to me as a kid.

"Yeah, we should be ok." I replied.

"Ok, three steamboat rush delay, two downs, five yards for first down? You can start." Mike stepped back and looked pleased with himself. I heard Bella ask Angela if we were still speaking English.

_My girl is so cute._

Now I was almost positive that Newton expected to destroy us at football, thinking himself some type of football god. However, seeing that Eric was half the size of Embry, and didn't seem to want to go anywhere near him, it was a pretty evenly matched game. That and the fact that they seemed to have a really hard time actually tackling any of us. When the sun finally set, Tyler came up and patted me on the back.

"Dude! You guys are total naturals! I can't believe none of you play!" He grinned and looked back at Embry and Quil. "Man, what I wouldn't give to have you three on our team!"

"Thanks, man, that was fun. We should try to do it again some time." I offered him my hand, and we had a friendly shake. Quil had already made his way back to Lauren, and Jessica was swooning over Embry's 'mad skills'.

Bella, being Bella, seemed unaffected by our little show of machismo.

"Did you win?" She asked when I came and sat down next to her.

"Nah," I whispered conspiratorially towards her. "I figured since they actually play on a team, I should let them win. Good sportsmanship and all." I winked and kissed her forehead.

Bella by firelight was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. The fire cast rays of red light which highlighted her chestnut hair, and added warmth to her already rosy cheeks. I was so lucky to call this girl mine.

Sometime during the night, I noticed that Quil and Lauren had disappeared from the group. I raised my eyebrow at Embry when I noticed, and he mouthed "walk on the beach" to me.

_Yeah, I'm sure they were walking. _

Embry was also doing everything in his power to keep Jessica off of him. Like literally, she tried to climb in his lap. Ultimately he went over and sat with Eric, who still looked slightly terrified of him; to talk about dirt bikes. Jessica followed, but in sitting next to Embry, also put herself next to Mike. I guess Mike's ego needed some stroking because suddenly he was whispering in Jessica's ear, and she started to giggle. Bella had noticed this too because we caught each other rolling their eyes, which caused us both to laugh out loud.

Around eleven, Angela announced that she and Ben were leaving, as she had a curfew to keep. That started everyone packing up and leaving, until there was just Bella, Quil, Embry and I left.

Bella couldn't help but tease Quil.

"So... Quil...you and Lauren seemed to be getting along alright." She nudged him with her elbow. A huge smile appeared on Quil's face.

"Yeah. She's cool. Looking forward to seeing her again at the dance."

"What about you, Embry? You and Jessica seemed to be talking a lot." Bella focused her attention on him, and tried to hold back a shit eating grin.

"That girl is part octopus! She always had a hand on me, she wouldn't stop touching me!" We all laughed at his outburst. "Plus I got the feeling she was just putting on a show to make Mike jealous." He shrugged his shoulders as he packed up the sound dock.

"Handsy is good, buddy." Quil offered. "Even if it's just for a bit, at least you're getting some." Bella rolled her eyes at him.

"Classy Quil." She added. "She might actually like you. Jessica is very...enthusiastic about guys. I guess you could find out at the dance?" She smiled gently at him.

"Yeah, that sounds alright." He smiled tentatively and helped me carry everything to Bella's truck. After everything was loaded, she handed me her keys.

"Here, you drive. I get confused on all the paths at night. I wouldn't be able to figure out how to get to Quil or Embry's place to drop them off."

"Sure, sure, baby." I opened the passenger door for her as Quil and Embry hopped in the back of the truck. Before I had even gotten to Embry's place, she was completely passed out. I dropped them both off, and then drove back to my place. I gently carried her in the house, and laid her on the couch. Billy was watching television in the living room.

"Maybe you should call Charlie, son. I don't think he'd want her driving when she's this tired." Billy offered. I picked up the phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Hello." A gruff voice answered.

"Hey, Charlie, it's Jake."

"Hi, son. How were the birthday festivities?" He chuckled.

"Good! I think Bella had fun. Actually she's passed out on my couch. Billy thought I should call you."

"Put your dad on for me, will you, Jake?" Charlie asked. I handed the phone to Billy. Billy's end of the conversation was a lot of "Of course, no problem, she's family, etc." Billy hung up the phone and started rolling to his room.

"Bella's gonna stay over tonight Jacob. Charlie's only request is 'No funny business.' But seeing as how she's passed out, I'm not really too worried about that." He sniggered and left the room. I picked her up again, and tried to take her to my room without disturbing her too much. As I lay her down on my bed, she stirred.

"Jake? Where am I?" She rubbed her big brown eyes and looked up at me.

"Hi, honey. You passed out, so Charlie said you should sleep here tonight." I went to my drawer and tried to find something for her to change into.

"In your room? Where are you sleeping, Jake?" She stifled a yawn.

"I'll be in the living room, baby. Charlie left strict orders of 'no funny business'." She giggled. "Here, baby, you can change into this so you don't have to sleep in your clothes." She stretched and her shirt lifted up so I could see her stomach, and her chest stuck out. My dick twitched. My girlfriend was in my bed.

_Bella's in my bed!_

"Thanks, Jake." Then she seemed to go on autopilot and started undressing. I got out of there quick before I did something like maul my half asleep girlfriend. I grabbed a pillow and an extra blanket from the closet and sprawled out on the couch. All I could think about was how Bella was in my bed. There's no way I would fall asleep anytime soon.

Sometime an hour or so later, still well immersed in my Bella fantasies; I heard small footsteps padding in from the hallway towards the kitchen. I heard someone fumbling with the cupboards, then the sound of running water.

"Bella?" I whispered.

"Oh sorry, Jake! I didn't mean to wake you; I was just getting a glass of water." She motioned to the glass in her hand. "Please go back to sleep." She leaned over the back of the couch to give me a kiss.

"I wasn't asleep, baby. No harm no foul." I reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. She eyed my long form half folded onto our couch and frowned.

"Oh, Jake. I'm so sorry. Here you are all squished on the couch, while I have your bed. I'm the worst girlfriend ever. You go on back to your bed, and I'll sleep out here." As she walked around the side of the couch to kick me off, she came into the moonlight and I got a better look at her. Her hair was down, and in messy waves all down the length of her back. She was wearing one of my t-shirts, but it was huge on her. Her shoulder was peeking out the neck hole, and the shirt itself only went down about mid thigh on her. That of course drew my attention to her long, shapely, mostly exposed legs.

"Gah." Was all I could manage. My tongue was literally on the floor, so I was incapable of making any coherent words. Bella giggled.

"You like my fashion statement?" She twirled around for me, and the shirt crept another inch higher as she lifted her arms up. "It's all the rage in Europe right now." She laughed lightly.

"Blrfgh."

_Nice word vomit, Black._

"I mean beautiful. Bella, you are beautiful." I saw her blush, even in the dark. I sat up and gently pulled her down to the couch. I raised my hand to cup her face, and gently kissed her.

"Mmm...you're not so bad yourself, Jacob." One of her hands fisted my hair, while the other pulled the blanket between us down to reveal my shirtless torso. Bella started kissing my neck, then shoulders, then worked her way down my chest to my abs.

_Good God in heaven, the things this girl did to me. _

I felt the wood I had been sporting for the last hour harden even more. I didn't even think that was possible. Bella worked her way back up my body with her tongue, and I'm pretty sure my eyes rolled back into my head, possible semi-permanently.

"I never did thank you for my party." She whispered shyly.

"Nnnoo...thannnkkss...nnnneeccessary." I managed to stutter out.

"I disagree." She breathed into my ear, and then let her tongue lick the outer shell. I physically shivered. "Are you cold, Jacob? Why don't you let me warm you up?" And then she climbed onto my lap, centering herself over my obvious erection, and started gradually and gently grinding into me.

_Holy shit!_

All that stood between Bella and I were two very thin layers of cotton. I noticed that my shirt had ridden up completely past her thighs, so I could just see her panties as she grinded on me.

Maybe all girls were part octopus, because it felt like she was everywhere, her mouth on mine, her small hands ghosted down my arms, her hot little body pushed up against my chest, and her lean legs straddling either side of me, as she slowly rubbed herself against me. I was in complete sensory overload. I didn't know what to do. Thankfully Bella took care of that for me. As she ran her tiny hands down my arms, she picked up my hands, and placed them on her thighs. She torturously slid them higher and higher and guided me up under her (_my_) shirt to her taut stomach, and then up to her full breasts.

_Bella was not wearing a bra._

We both moaned into the others mouth when I palmed her breasts. She made a little mewling noise, when I gently squeezed her nipples between my fingers. She removed her hands from mine, and slid them back down her body. Before I realised what was happening, she had freed my seriously, aching cock from my boxers and was using her hands to rub it more firmly against her noticeably wet panties. Her back arched in pleasure, and filled my hands with more of her breast.

"Jake, oh my God. You feel so good." She sighed, between kisses. I still couldn't really form sentences, and just basically grunted at her.

"Bella. So Hot. Bella." I gasped. She removed her hands from my dick, and I immediately regretted saying anything. However, it was short lived as she used that time to rip her (_my_) shirt off over her head, fully exposing her to me. She put both of her hands back on my cock and started stroking hard, up and down the full length of my shaft. I took the opportunity to put my mouth to better use and latched onto her left breast. I circled my tongue around her nipple and sucked gently on it, while continuing to tease her right breast with my hand.

"Jake. I'm ah...com...ah..coming!" She cried. I felt her whole body shudder, and her thighs squeeze tightly around me. I followed right behind her, as her last quiver reverberated through her hands, sending me right to climax. Thankfully I came all over myself, so Bella didn't freak out by having cum on her. She reached over for the box of tissues and shyly handed them to me. I accepted them and cleaned myself up, thinking of how amazing Bella was. She was the perfect mix of shy girl, and assertive woman, showing me what she wanted. I loved her so much. I returned from the bathroom to find that Bella had put my shirt back on, and was sitting on the sofa.

"Bella." I started. "That was so amazing." I kissed her cheek gently, placing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"I know." She nuzzled her head into my hand, and kissed the inside of my wrist.

"Bella, I love you." I blurted the words out before I realised what I had done. My first reaction was panic. The second was fear. Before I could get to a third, Bella had closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss me.

"I love you too, Jacob." She got to her feet and pulled me up. "Now come to bed with me." She pulled me, half dazed to my room and pushed me onto my bed, and crawled in after me. She lay with her head on my arm, facing away from me and backed up to curl into my body. "I love you, Jake," she said before falling asleep.

I was having the most amazing dream. In it, Bella and I were laying in bed naked, as she started rubbing herself against me calling out my name. You know when you know you're dreaming? And you're like "Hey, I'm dreaming, but this dream is awesome so I'm gonna go with it." That's what it was. I figured my subconscious was extending the session Bella and I had in the living room. Except I woke up, and Bella WAS calling my name, and WAS rubbing herself against me. We weren't naked, but we were close. If she kept this up, she was going to wake up Billy.

"Bella," I whispered. "Shh pretty girl, I'm right here." I stroked her hair, hoping it would soothe her and make her stop talking. I had no idea Bella talked in her sleep.

"Mmm, Jake. I want you." She mumbled. Those words went straight to my dick, which was already partly awake due to my dream. "Touch me, Jake."

_Holy shit! Holyshitholyshitholyshit! What the fuck do I do now?_

"Shh...Bella. Wake up honey. You're dreaming baby." I gently shook her, hoping it would wake her. "I'm sorry, baby, but you have to wake up or you're going to get us in trouble."

"Jake?" She rubbed her eyes and looked at me. It took her a few moments to process where we were. "Why did you wake me up?" She snuggled into my chest, breathing deeply.

"I had to, baby. I'm sorry, but you were talking in your sleep." I smoothed the hair away from her face. Her blush seemed to follow the stroke of my hand.

"Yeah, Renee said I do that. I hope you didn't hear anything embarrassing." She sighed. I tried to adjust my ever present erection without jostling her.

"Nope, nothing embarrassing, honey." I kept stroking her face, then suddenly her eyes shot open. "What's the matter, Bella?" I asked when her face got even redder.

"I just remembered what I was dreaming about. Usually my sleep talk revolves around my dream." She looked down to my crotch, and noticed the fully pitched tent there. "Wow, Jake, I'm sorry I woke you." She buried her head into my chest.

"I'm not, baby. I love knowing that you dream about me. It's really sexy." I kissed the top of her head.

"Really?" she asked. "What did I say?" Her hand traced a circular pattern on my chest, and I noticed the circle was getting bigger and bigger.

"You um...said you want me." I choked out, as her hand kept going lower and lower.

"I think you already knew that." She whispered, then snaked her tongue out to lick my nipple. "Anything else?" She asked.

"Um...you may have asked me to touch you." I said nervously, not sure how she would react. Her hand reached the top of my boxers, and she hesitated.

"Jake, do you want to make my dreams come true?" She asked, so quietly I almost didn't hear her.

"Oh God, Bella, I'd do anything to make you happy." I breathed into her mouth as I pulled her in for a kiss.

"Touch me, Jacob." She whispered, as she hitched her leg onto my hip. "Touch me." Not needing to be told again, I ran my hand along her leg until I reached her inner thigh, and stopped at what I felt.

_Bella was not wearing any underwear._

"Uhh...Bella...when did you take off your underwear?" I asked, not really sure why I was asking.

"It was all wet after you made me come, Jacob." She said it so shyly, but still looked me straight in the eye when she said 'come'. At that moment I lost all self control I thought I had. I crashed her lips to mine and started fingering her slippery folds. She was soaked, either from her dream, or the last few seconds, but either way it felt so damn good to spread the moisture around her delicate tissues and hear her moan in satisfaction.

"Please, Jacob, touch me." She gasped between breaths. She reached her hand down between her legs, and put her fingers on top of mine. She gently pushed one of my fingers inside her, then another. "So good, Jacob. You feel so good." She removed her hand and slid it back up her body, removing the shirt as she went. Bella was now completely naked in my bed, moaning my name.

_I could now die a happy man._

I leaned my head down and started to lick her hardened nipple. She cried out in pleasure when I gently pulled it between my teeth.

"You like that, baby?" I breathed into her breast, and blew air onto her nipple. As I shifted position, my thumb brushed up against a hardened nub and Bella cried out again. "Shh, baby, you have to be quiet." I circled her clit with my thumb as I pumped my fingers in and out of her. She grabbed the pillow and threw it over her face, and started moaning my name. "That's it, baby. That's a good girl." I kept switching between her breasts, alternating licking them and then blowing air. I swear her nipples were so hard they could have cut glass. I would gladly have set up an altar to worship Bella's breasts right then and there.

"Jacob. Fuck!" She screamed into the pillow as her inner walls clenched around my fingers. "So fucking good!" She completely tensed, then collapsed.

Hearing Bella swear was such a turn on, I thought I would come just from listening to her scream my name. She looked like a goddess, laid out completely exposed to me on my bed. Her skin had a light sheen of sweat on it, and through the moonlight, she looked like she was glowing. She locked eyes with me and smiled. I held her gaze, as I reached my fingers covered in her essence up to my mouth to taste her. She tasted better than I anything I had ever put in my mouth. I closed my eyes to savour the taste and try to hold it to memory. If I could, I would live off of her sweet, sweet nectar. Someday soon, if she would let me, I wanted to taste it at the source.

_Jacob Black, you are one lucky son of a bitch._

"Jake?" Bella looked up at me tentatively. I could see her arguing with herself, and then timidly whispered to me. "Will you show my how _you_ like to be touched?"

_HOT!_

Just when I thought Bella can't get hotter or sexier she springs this on me.

_FUCK YES!_

I lay back down, slid my boxers off and gently took her hands in my own. Her eyes widened as I put both of her hands on my cock, and softly pulled them up along the shaft, flicking my thumb across the tip, and then back down again.

"Jake, it's so big." She gasped. She actually sounded surprised, not like it was some over rehearsed line you see in movies. Her compliment went straight to my head. One guess which one.

_I fucking love you, Bella Swan._

"Ungh...just like that, baby. That's it." I guided her hands once more before letting go. My hips bucked reflexively when she reached the tip and ran her thumb across it, spreading my pre-cum. She even gave her wrist a little flick that felt incredible. I wasn't going to last long, having just been so close after bringing her to climax. I didn't want to embarrass myself, so I tried to think of other things but it didn't really work. I kept coming back to the fact that Bella and I were naked in my bed, and she was giving me a hand job that felt about a million times better than anything I had ever done with my own hands. I looked down to see her tiny hands, barely covering me as she thrust them up and down, up and down. Seeing the look of desire on her face as she stroked me, did me in. Three more circuits of her small hands pumping my cock, and I was done. I came all over myself. Again. She passed me some tissues. Again.

"Bella, honey, that was so amazing. You are so incredible." I kissed her deeply before getting up, and putting my boxers on.

"Best birthday ever." She smiled into the kiss.

"I'm gonna sleep on the couch after I get cleaned up, Bells. I don't think either of us will get any sleep if I get back into bed with you." I winked at her. She pouted but then sighed. I must be some kind of saint to leave this girl, but if my dad found us, and told Charlie...well as much as Charlie likes me, he still has a lot of guns.

I'm not stupid.

"I suppose you're right. Sleep well, Jacob; I know I will." She gave me a cute wink, as she reached around for my shirt to put back on.

I settled back onto the couch, and fell asleep dreaming of the beautiful angel in my bed.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Ooh! Hot nekked Jacob! Please leave a review if you like hot naked Jake. If you don't, I'll assume you don't like it, and I won't write about his glorious nakedness again (that's an idle threat; I totally plan on having more naked Jake).


	14. Just Dance

Chapter 14 – Just Dance

EPOV

I ejected the usb key from the computer, placed it in a pre-wrapped box, and leaned back in my chair. I had felt utterly foolish not realising that it was Bella's birthday, and even worse when Alice had stolen the only opportunity to purchase her a gift. I suppose I wasn't surprised that Bella hadn't wanted a fuss made over her. The more time I spent with her, the more I realised what a private person she was. She was used to being the caretaker, not being taken care of.

I had spent the day recalling how she looked in that blue dress. I shouldn't have, but I did. Normally I don't go around picking through the minds of people in dressing rooms, but when I heard Alice mentally say that 'This is the dress!' to herself, I had to look. I should have felt chagrined for spying on her, but somehow whenever I was with Bella, all my personal rules got tossed by the wayside. It was disturbing the effect she had on me without even trying. I needed to be more stringent with myself in the future. I couldn't allow myself any more slip ups.

I was pleased however, that I had tricked her into allowing me to give her something for her birthday. Her only condition was that I not buy her anything. I closed the laptop I had transferred the mp3's from, containing a mixture of music I had heard her humming sometimes, as well as some other music I thought she would enjoy. I hoped she wouldn't find it too forward of me to give her the twenty first century version of a mixed tape.

I had rearranged my cd's for the third time that weekend, when I caught the end of a vision Alice was having. I flew to her room, and dropped four cd's in the process.

"Alice, why did I just see Bella coming over to our house?" I demanded.

Jasper growled at me from the corner where he was reading a book on the Civil War. Apparently he didn't like the tone I was using with his wife. I ignored him.

"Well?"

"Take a chill pill there, Edward," Alice called out from her bathroom. "Of course she's coming here, you can't expect me to get her ready at her house? Have you seen her room? Oh...I forgot who I was talking to; of course you've seen her room." Alice's tiny head popped out of her bathroom and she stuck her tongue out at me.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath.

"Alice, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that Emmet, Rose and your husband are supposed to be away at college?" I looked pointedly at Jasper, asking for some help. He shrugged at me, and went back to reading his book.

"I'm not getting involved," he told me in his head. I gave him a sour look, and turned back to Alice.

"I'm sure they can figure out something to do for a couple hours while I get Bella ready. Besides, I already had a vision that if I don't help her, she'll show up to the dance in the dress I bought her and flats. Flats, Edward. With that dress? Not on my watch." Alice emerged from her bathroom, glared at me, and danced towards her massively, oversized closet. I caught the flicker of a hazy vision zip through her head.

"Wait. Have you not even asked her to come over yet?" I blurted out. Even for Alice, this was a tad extreme.

"You worry too much, Edward. You're going to give yourself gray hairs." She twirled out of her closet and landed in Jasper's lap. "Now if you'll excuse me..." she then pictured what she had planned for Jasper.

"God, Alice...I did not need that visual to change the subject." I loudly closed the door behind me before I returned to my room.

I picked up the CD's I had dropped, but felt an immediate need to get out of the house. With Alice's taunt fresh in my mind, I found myself at Bella's house, sat in Bella's tree, and looked into Bella's bedroom. I didn't even remember the run over, but I was somehow inexplicably drawn here.

Her room had been unusually quiet. It took me a few moments to realise that she was not at home. The only sounds I heard were Charlie's rhythmic snores coming from further in the house.

Where was she? Was she all right?

I calmly reminded myself that Charlie would not be fast asleep if he were concerned with his daughter whereabouts. She must have stayed with a girlfriend. Perhaps Jessica, or Angela invited her for a slumber party after the bonfire. I've often overheard human girls making such plans.

I took this opportunity to once again sate myself on her scent without putting her in danger. I easily lifted her window, and crept into her room. Once again, the concentration of her scent hit me hard, and I took a few moments to steel myself against the overwhelming desire I felt. I found it became easier to control myself the more I visited this place.

_Perhaps I should make it a nightly ritual. Bella would never even need to know. It would also provide me the opportunity to try to understand her better_.

As Monday approached, I had found myself feeling anxious about giving her the gift. Anxiety is a new emotion for me, and I was unsure how to deal with it. Jasper even pulled me aside to question me, but I had not wanted everyone to know why I was anxious, so I told him not to worry. Instead I ran to Canada to try to clear my head.

My anxiety deepened when I approached her Monday morning in English, and she didn't even acknowledge my presence. In fact she had seemed unaware of me completely. This was odd, since most humans unconsciously shy away from us when they aren't paying strict attention. Bella had been motionless. I had observed this behaviour in other humans, and deduced that she was daydreaming.

_What I wouldn't give to see into her mind!_

Newton dumped his books all over his desk, and it seemed to bring Bella out of her reverie. She looked up to find me staring at her.

_Subtle, Edward._

"Sorry Edward. Were you talking to me?" she asked meekly. I chuckled, to try to play off the fact she had caught me staring at her.

"Actually you looked pretty out of it when I sat down, so I figured I would wait until you came back to earth." I smiled at her and winked. I decided it was now or never, so I reached into my bag, and handed her the small white box, with a bow on the top. I nodded my head towards the box. "As per our agreement."

She seemed confused by my statement, but opened the box regardless.

"Uhh...you'll have to refresh my memory?" she stuttered.

"At the department store, you agreed I could get you a birthday gift if I didn't buy anything. I already had the usb key, and I've filled it with some music I think you'll like," I whispered.

"Wow, Edward. That's incredibly thoughtful. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to hearing what you picked later. Thanks!" She smiled at me, as Mr. Berty entered the classroom.

"Oh, you should be warned that Alice is planning on cornering you in Spanish to talk about the dance." I added right before Mr. Berty called the class to attention. I thought it best to warn her so she could mentally prepare, but I didn't want to deal with her questions, so I had purposefully waited until I knew she couldn't ask me. It was unfair, but I didn't like never knowing what she thought, it was difficult to field questions from her.

True to form, Alice nearly pounced on her, when we arrived in Spanish.

"Bella, you're coming over Friday after the game so we can get ready together, okay?" Alice was so excited she spoke at vampire speed. I saw Bella really concentrate to try to catch everything. I read the hesitation in her response with ease. It pleased me that I was getting to know her so well.

"Uhh, I dunno Alice," Bella replied, "Jake probably needs me to pick him and guys up from the Rez." She looked overwhelmed. I tried to stifle a chuckle.

Alice stuck out her bottom lip out and gave her famous pout.

"Please, Bella! Oh please! Please let's get ready together!" Alice grabbed her hand and gave her big doe eyes, then crouched right next to her face and asked again. "Please, Bella." Alice exhaled a long breath out at her.

Wow, she used her vampire powers to try persuade her. Unbelievable. I saw Bella breathe in, and then her eyes glazed over. She shook her head, as if trying to shake out the foggy thoughts I'm sure she had.

"Ok, Alice," Bella started slowly, "what time are you coming over?"

"Silly Bella, we're going to get ready at my place!" Alice laughed, and skipped to her desk. I caught Bella eye me dubiously, and then turn her attention back towards my sister.

"We are? I thought that no one had...I mean, people said you didn't...uh..." she stammered and I saw the blush rise in her cheeks. I could tell she was floundering with words, and didn't have to wish I could read her mind. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Bella," I interjected, "while it's true some of the other kids may not have seen our house, I can assure you that Alice will have ample room and supplies to get you both ready for the dance."

She looked at me appraisingly, and then settled into her seat.

"Ok, but we're taking my truck," she shot over her shoulder. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

BPOV

_I am a pushover. _

Not only had I somehow allowed Alice to talk me into getting ready at her place, but she wouldn't let me take my truck. Something about a stupid sports car. And poor Jake had to find his own ride to the dance.

_I'm a terrible girlfriend. _

Jake, of course, had been completely fine with it, but I felt terrible. He was so laid back that he was completely fine with most things I had told him. I hoped that Alice could work some magic on me, and make me beautiful for Jake, and he'd forget I left him to his own devices for getting to and from a dance I begged him to accompany me to.

_I'm a terrible girlfriend. _

"Earth to Bella?" Alice's face came into focus as I opened my eyes.

After the football game Alice had dragged me up to her enormous room, pulled me into her oversized bathroom, plopped me into a plush chair and had attacked me with various scrubs and brushes. I had no idea what half the things in her bathroom were, and had fallen into random thoughts as she merrily chatted away about the things she was doing to me. Apparently my silence had been noticed.

"Sorry, Alice. Got lost in my train of thought again." I gave her a sheepish grin, and hoped she didn't mind. When I heard her laugh like tinkling bells, I knew I was forgiven.

"Oh, Bella. I'm sorry. I know this isn't really your thing, but I always have so much fun getting ready for big events!" She gave me a big hug. As per usual, her skin was cool to the touch. I wonder if she had a glandular problem or something.

"Tell you what, Alice, you don't be sorry that I'm not paying attention, and neither will I." I winked at her and started laughing.

Alice skipped around behind me, and I caught my reflection in the mirror. At least it was supposed to be me, but I barely recognized the face looking back at me. The girl in the reflection had deep, huge eyes framed by smoky eye shadow, with eyelashes that were a mile long. Her skin glowed a pearlescent sheen of white, except for her rosy cheeks. Her lips were a soft shade a pink, and looked much plumper than I had ever recalled seeing them. I was speechless.

"So?" She asked nervously, "What do you think?"

"I think you missed your calling as a makeup artist." I grinned up at her, and she beamed back at me. "Alice, I can't believe this is me." I gestured towards my face, and couldn't help but be mesmerized when the girl in the mirror mimicked my actions.

"What about the hair?" she asked while she bounced up and down. Honestly, I hadn't gotten past my face to see the hair, but when I looked, I was amazed. She had gathered the top section in beautiful twists, and had carefully selected tendrils to fall around my head. At the top she had attached some small flowers around the crown to accent the curls pinned in place. The rest was down and flowing. The best of both worlds.

"Amazing, Alice. Makeup and hair artist. You should be doing celebrities, not me." She looked in the mirror and styled pin curls into her normally spiky hair.

"You're so sweet, Bella, but really, I had a great canvas to work off of. Your skin is already so amazing; I really didn't do that much to it." She danced off towards her closet, and came back with our dresses. She gave me a quick lesson on how to walk in heels, and afterwards I found myself doing okay in the shoes she had bought me.

"Alice?" I can't believe I was actually going to ask her this. But my lack of previous dances really had me nervous.

"Yes, Bella?" Alice looked up at me, and gently touched my arm. It gave me the courage to ask my next question.

"I don't know how to dance. I tried ballet when I was younger. It er... it didn't go well. Can you like, I dunno, show me what I'm supposed to do?" I looked at the floor and wrung my hands together.

"I would be delighted to!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bathroom. "Okay, first off, if you're dancing with Jacob, or any guy for that matter, just follow his lead." She grabbed my right hand in her left, and propped my left arm up on her right, with her right hand on my shoulder blade. "See, you can do this, just move your feet from side to side, and follow his lead. You can tell where wants to lead you by where he pulls your hand, and pushes on your back." She demonstrated by pulling me around in a wide circle. I had to stop her so I could laugh. This wasn't quite what I had meant.

"Sorry, Alice. It's just that I don't think that Jacob even knows who Fred Astaire is. I don't think he'll be leading me anywhere." I saw the surprised look and her face, and burst into a fit of giggles. "I don't think anyone from our school will be waltzing." A look of understanding dawned on her face, and she started giggling too.

"No, you're right, Bella. It was silly of me to start there. You're thinking about how people will be dancing at school right? Like music video stuff?" She shimmied and shook around her room. She totally looked like she could be in a music video. I could never be that sexy while moving.

"I guess something like that, but realistically this is me, and I'm a klutz, so really can you just show my how to move my feet, so I'm not just standing there awkwardly?" I watched her twirl to a stop in front of me.

"Bella! You're over thinking it! You should dance because you feel happy, or sexy, or some other emotion!"

She fiddled with her ipod and blared Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance'.

"Now girls have it easy. You can just move your hips to the beat, instead of your feet to start. Like this." She put her hands on my hips and was swivelling them to the beat. "Now see how the rest of your body wants to follow?"

My torso moved with my hips. It actually felt more natural than I had thought.

_Where had Alice been years ago when I was taking ballet_?

"That's great! Your hips move your legs, and your legs move your feet, see?" She was right. I looked in the mirror, and I was essentially dancing by just moving my hips. Except my arms. My arms hung limply by my body.

"What do I do with my arms? They're just kinda...there." I flapped my arms like an overgrown bird.

"Oh, that's the best part! The best way to drive a guy crazy is to touch yourself with your hands." She looked at me like what she said was the most obvious thing in the world.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at her through the mirror.

"Excuse me?" Maybe I heard her wrong.

"Not so graphic silly! Like this!" She moved her arm up the side of her body, just brushing past her boob up to touch her neck, where she rubbed along the back of her neck up to her hairline. Her other hand rubbed down her hip to her thigh, and back up. My mouth was literally on the floor. She made those simple movements look so sexy.

"I dunno if I can do that Alice." I tried moving my hand up and down my thigh. That wasn't so hard. I tried moving the other up my body to my neck. It hadn't been too bad, until I got to my boob and turned cherry red. Apparently I couldn't fake sexy without turning into a tomato.

"Bella, you don't have to exactly what I did. Just do whatever you feel comfortable doing. No one is expecting a pre-zombie Britney Spears dance number from you."

"Poor Britney is kinda dead in the eyes now, isn't she?" I asked. Alice nodded her head tragically. Then her eyes lit up.

"One more thing! I almost forgot because I can't do it... the hair flip!" She looked at me like she was dead serious about what she just said.

"Alice, that sounds so cliché!" I raised my eyebrow speculatively at her.

"I'm serious, Bella. When you really get into a song, the hair flip will come naturally to someone whose hair is as long as yours. The basic concept is that you tilt your chin down to break eye contact, like you're really getting into the song. Then, at a high point in the song, you quickly bring your head back up at an angle and make eye contact again. Your hair will do the rest. C'mon, let's try."

The song changed to Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' and Alice turned her head from side to side. I felt silly, but danced in the mirror with her. She grabbed my hands, we twirled until the chorus, and Alice dropped my hands and said "Now!"

I felt rather giddy by this point, so I just let loose, and flipped my head up and to the side. I couldn't believe what I saw in the mirror. A beautiful cascade of chestnut hair flew across my face and over my shoulder. I actually looked sexy!

"Oh my gosh, Alice, you are such a genius!" I beamed at her and felt well prepared for the dance tonight.

"Thanks, Bella." She beamed back at me. "Hey, Carlisle and Esme wanted to take some pictures of us before we go, I hope that's okay?" she asked me. Immediately I felt contrite that I hadn't properly met any of her family yet, and we had holed ourselves up in her room and danced up a storm.

"Of course that's okay, Alice. I'd be really pleased to meet them." She led me out the door of her room to a beautiful staircase. I had noticed it on the way to her room, but now that I was all dressed up in heels, they were more than intimidating. I hesitated at the top of the landing, and held on tightly to the banister.

While I was debating the best method to safely navigate the stairs, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned my head to see Edward down the hallway staring at me. Our eyes locked, and I could have sworn his eyes went from amber to black, like the very first time I had met him. He approached, and as he got closer I saw that his eyes were back to their usual honey colour, but couldn't shake the feeling that what I saw was true. Impossible but true.

"May I offer you some assistance with the stairs?" He graciously held out his hand to me, and swept into a bow. He was dressed in a dark grey suit, with a matching shirt. Something about his mannerisms reminded me of an old movie. I happily accepted his offer. "You look lovely this evening."

"Thank you. I was getting nervous about how I was going to arrive to the dance in one piece." I chuckled. He laughed somewhat nervously at me, and helped me to descend the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, I was hit with several flashbulbs. Alice popped out from behind a camera and began the introductions.

"Bella, this is Carlisle and Esme," she gestured towards a couple that couldn't have been more than ten years older than me.

"It's a pleasure to have you in our home, Bella. Alice and Edward have told us a lot about you." Carlisle reached out his hand, and I shook it. Esme beamed at me and offered her hand as well.

"Thank you for allowing me to get ready here. You have a lovely home." I gestured around, and really took in my surroundings. It was immaculately decorated in natural palettes, and soft neutral tones. Carlisle chuckled.

"From what Edward tells us, Alice didn't leave you much choice." Esme and Edward joined in as well.

"Of course she had a choice," Alice huffed, "I didn't drag her here or anything." That of course started everyone laughing. "Bella, why don't we pose for a few more photos before we head out?" She pulled me towards the staircase where she, Edward and I posed for a few more photos before we left for the dance.

"Alice, do you think I could get some copies of those? Charlie would probably like to see them," I asked.

Edward offered me his arm as we reached their gravel driveway.

"Sure, Bella. I'll zip them and e-mail them to you?" she called over her shoulder as she punched a code into the garage. The door smoothly glided up and I was presented with a wide array of various cars, which I assumed were both very expensive and very fast.

"In honour of your first dance, we'll take the Vanquish tonight Bella." Edward pulled the passenger door to a very fancy looking car open. Alice hurried around to the driver side, and got in the back of the car.

"Alice, we're not having this argument again, you shouldn't sit in the back of your brother's car." I tried to hold firm, but as I noted before, I was a pushover.

"Bella, I'm already in the car, and buckled in. Sit down already." She rolled her eyes at me, and gestured to the seat. I carefully got in, very aware of how high up my skirt rose when I sat down. I fidgeted with it as Edward closed the door, and walked around to the drivers' side.

Just then my cell beeped, and I received a text from Jacob. I texted him that we were on our way, when I noticed that we weren't. Alice had her hand on Edward's shoulder and they were having one of their super quiet discussions. Edward had his eyes locked on me.

"Uh...sorry," I offered, "Jake was just wondering where we were at. I told him with the way you drive, and given that this was a sports car, we'd be there in thirty seconds," I joked. My joke seemed to ease the tension from the air, and Edward sighed.

"I forgot you didn't like to go fast." He pulled out of the garage, onto their winding driveway.

"I have a healthy respect for the law." I repeated our conversation from a week ago.

"Text him to meet you inside. That way you can make an entrance," Alice ordered.

"I hope by entrance, you don't mean me falling flat on my face," I sighed and glanced down nervously at my shoes.

Embry's POV

Sometimes the Universe really helped a brother out. I had wracked my brains all week trying to figure out how I was gonna pull off Sam's latest Alpha command. Sam somehow expected me to not only be glued to Jake's side at this dance, but also get Sam an invite to drive us down so he could be nearby should anything "go wrong." Sam was not a big fan of us being in a social setting with the leeches, and was worried their scent might set Jake off with the fever...or worse, fully wolf out.

Then BAM! Bella's leech buddy wanted to give her a makeover extraordinaire, and I had my in. We needed a ride to the dance, and Sam was "heading into town anyways." While Jake wasn't super thrilled with the idea, he just wanted to get to the dance, so we were a go. Turned out that vamps could be useful after all.

Now, I didn't like guys, but I gotta say, the three of us looked good. When we went in the gym, the ladies totally checked us out. Thankfully, Jessica was nowhere to be seen. Quil had said that she and Lauren were getting ready together.

_What's up with girls getting ready in groups?_

We hung out by the food table scarfing down chips waiting for Bella to arrive. Now I knew the boy hadn't phased yet, so imprinting wasn't possible, but if it were, I swear he had already imprinted with Bella. He turned to face the doors a full three seconds before she came in. Like he knew she was there. I gotta say that Bella looked like something out of a magazine. I barely recognized her. She walked into the gym, with the hallway lit behind her, just as a spotlight passed over where she was standing. She looked HAWT. I wasn't the only one who thought so either. My wolf senses immediately noticed an increase in pheromones, and my super night vision could see dudes were gawking at her.

Then there was Jacob. He had already stalked towards her, and he looked fierce. He didn't even say hi, and just pulled her into a hot n' heavy kiss. She didn't look like she minded, but this wasn't our Jake. The rest of us phased because we were pissed or angry. Jake was going to be the first to phase because he wanted to claim a mate.

_Ah, Fuck my life. _

I texted Sam: Its going down 2nite.

My phone rang immediately. Fortunately, super wolf hearing let me hear shit like that even when the room was loud. I explained what I just saw, and Sam agreed with me. He told me to watch Jacob closely, and that he'd be in the parking lot all night.

I smelled the sickly sweet scent of the leeches come in right after Bella, but ignored them for the most part. The male eyed Jake, but the tiny female pulled him away from Bella, off to the side.

"Dude, Bella needs to breathe. Come up for air." I tapped Jake on the shoulder, and I heard a low growl erupt from him, even if he didn't.

"Bella, you look lovely this evening," I took her hand and kissed it like I saw in some movie from history class, "I'm sure Jake has told you so already." I elbowed him hard, hoping he would come back to earth and remember some manners. It seemed to work. I saw the hunger leave his eyes, as he tried to shake it off.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. You just... I mean you looked...I uh..." Jake looked properly abashed, and totally back to his usual self. "I'm so sorry, Bella. You look amazing tonight."

Bella smiled, and reach up to rub some stuff off Jake's lips.

"Thank you, Jake. You have Alice to thank for that. She's a genius." She gestured towards the tiny vamp female. "Alice, Edward, this is my boyfriend Jake." She pointed at Jake, and they all shook hands. "And these are Quil and Embry." I nodded my head at them, as Quil waved from behind us, stuffing his face with Doritos. The male gave me a quick look, studied me briefly, then went back to the small discussion that had begun with Bella, Alice and Jake.

_Yeah that's right leech, I know what you are._

Then to my total fucking shock, he turned to look at me and smirked. He looked at me, and quietly spoke, though I heard every word.

"Don't forget the treaty, wolf. You're on our land tonight," he whispered. The female glanced over to him, then over to me, and rolled her eyes.

_What the FUCK?_

What the hell was I supposed to do know? From what I knew, when Sam phased, he and the elders went and renewed the treaty. Partially to let them know the wolves were still present, and partially to remind them of the boundaries of the treaty. But Leechward was right, we were on their land. Then, because the Universe wasn't always on my side, Lauren and Jessica showed up, and Jessica practically mauled me when she saw me.

Our group shuffled further into the gym, and soon we were in one of those big circles, dancing. The rest of Bella's group joined us, and the circle got bigger. Fortunately the bigger the circle, the further away from the leeches I could be. My poor nose was going into overdrive.

Jessica and Lauren kept grinding on each other, as some type of show for Quil (and I guess me). Quil totally dug it, but I was too preoccupied keeping track of Jake to really enjoy any kind of dancing. Even when Jessica decided to wriggle her butt into me, my brain had been split all over the place. On the one hand, a cute girl was seriously into me. On the other hand, my buddy might morph into a giant dog and freaked out the love of his life, possibly hurting her in the process.

_Priorities, Embry._

I casually snuck a glance over to Jake and Bella, who were so wrapped up in each other they weren't even dancing in time to the music. I mean, I'm no Baryshnikov but they were slow dancing to a fast dance track. And by slow dancing, I mean that they were staring at each other as Jake's hand moved further and further south down her back, and they barely moved to the music at all.

My eyes flicked across the circle to see that the leech was intently watching them. Scratch that. He was gawking. Then he shifted his weight, and I saw the boner he tried to adjust.

_That's just fucked up. _

He was a blood sucking leech, and he was getting off watching Jake and Bella.

Lauren grabbed Jessica again, and I guess decided a two girl show wasn't enough. So she also grabbed Bella and Angela, and pulled them into the middle of the circle to dance. Angela and Bella kinda stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. I saw Jake smirk at Bella. I smirked at her too. Down at the Rez, we all know what a total spaz Bella was because she was constantly tripping on nothing and falling down. Judging by her shoes, I imagine it took everything she had to not fall over since Jake' wasn't holding onto her anymore.

Lady leech sidled up to Bella and reached up and whispered in her ear. Then to my surprise, Bella was dancing. And she was good. I mean, she wasn't grinding up on anyone, but she looked hot. At first she was really timid about it, not really moving a lot, but she seemed to get more into it. The song morphed into some other shit pop number and Bella and lady leech laughed. Then she was really dancing; she was touching her body and swaying her hips type dancing. She held Jake's eye contact the whole time and his mouth hung open, welcoming flies. She smiled at him, then looked down at the floor. What she did next was almost Jake's undoing.

Her hip swivelled out hard just as her hand ran up her body, grazing her tit as she swung her head around. Her hair followed the path her head left, and I could smell her shampoo from here.

_Strawberries, nice. _

Jake came unglued. He reached for her, and pulled her roughly to him and claimed her mouth with his.

_Yeah buddy, I'd be letting everyone know that was mine too._

At almost the same moment, I saw the leech move forward, as if he had wanted to reach out to her as well.

_Well that's gross. A dead guy has the hots for Bella._

He watched them intently for a moment, and then a weird look shot across his face for a second. I couldn't place it; it was like a bizarre mix of disgust and desire. I mean who was ever grossed out by something they want? Dude was weird. He stood there for a moment longer before he looked like he had decided something, and went up to the deejay. I saw him say something to the deejay, who just scoffed at him. Then I saw something I'd only ever seen on TV. Leech boy palmed a bill to the deejay. It must have been a big one because the deejay looked impressed. Next thing I knew, the deejay was on the mic claiming that the next song must be danced with someone that was not your date.

_That vamp is one smooth motherfucker._

By the time I realised what happened, Jake was by the punch table. I looked around for Bella, and saw that the leech had already asked Bella to dance like Old Quil, ballroom styles.

"Hey, dude, you having fun?" I tried to be super casual about it. Jake stared at Bella, apparently oblivious to me. Leech was singing the lyrics to Bella.

_Maybe he's not as smooth as I thought. Crooning to girls is hella lame._

"Yo, Earth to Jacob." I waved my hand in front of his face.

"Sorry Em. What's up?" Jake blinked slowly, but didn't stop staring at Bella.

"Just asking if you're having fun, dude." I fiddled with my cell in my pocket.

"Isn't Bella beautiful?" Okay, so not the answer I expected to my question.

"Yeah, Jake. She looks great. That dress is smokin'." His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her. I looked up and saw that the leech had pulled Bella super close, and she looked kinda out of it. Her eyes were glazed over.

_Shit, he must be doing some crazy vampire voodoo on her! How the hell do I get Bella away from him?_

Then I heard Jacob growl. It wasn't like before when I interrupted his macking on Bella's face. It was a full on growl, and the vamp heard it too. He looked directly at me and Jake, and smirked.

The pupils in Jake's eyes went to vertical slits, and a yellow rim circled his irises.

_Ahh, FUCK! Jake's eyes have phased. Don't panic...just need to get Jake outside to Sam, and break the leeches spell on Bella. No problem. Super Embry to the rescue._

I dialled Sam, and pushed Jake towards the door.

"Sam, it's started. I'm heading outside, but I'm going to need your help." I quickly clicked the phone shut.

Jake's skin was warm, not hot, but it was definitely going to happen tonight. He resisted my pushing a bit, and stumbled into the table, knocking the punchbowl all over Bella's friend Mike.

"Sorry, dude, he's not feeling well. I'm gonna try to get him home." I shrugged my shoulders at Mike, and his newly pink shirt, and went back to trying to get out of the gym. I quickly looked around for Quil, who was making out with Lauren in the corner of the gym.

"Jake, buddy, you feel warm. You feeling alright?" Having gone through this a few weeks ago, I knew for a fact he felt like shit.

"Wha? I'm fine. Well, I do feel kinda hot." His eyes never left Bella. I kept pushing him towards the door.

"I think we should get you outside for a bit, get you some fresh air."

"But, Bella..." Jake got out of my grip and started towards Bella.

_Okay, two birds with one stone then; we rescue Bella, and then get Jake outside._

I caught up and passed him, reaching Bella first.

"Hey, Bells. Sorry to interrupt," I in fact was not sorry to interrupt at all, "Jake seems to have caught a fever or something, and I think I should take him home."

That seemed to break the trance she was in. Bella shook her head before looking over to us, and reached up to touch Jake's face.

"Holy crow, Jake! You're burning up!" Her complete attention was on us, and the leech looked irritated.

"Sorry, Bells. I don't know what hit me." Amazing. Boy was about to phase into a giant wolf. I know he felt like shit, and he was apologizing to Bella. He had it BAD.

"Don't be silly, Jake. C'mon, let's go." She grabbed his hand, and was leading us out of the gym. I had to think fast, because she really could not have been around for Jake phasing. In fact, neither could Quil.

"Actually, Bella, I already called our ride. He's out front waiting for us. Do you mind telling Quil that I took Jake home? He's stranded now, so can you maybe work something out to get him back to the Rez? Sorry to put this on you, but I really think I should get him home." I motioned to Jake with my head.

He leaned heavily into me, and I was supporting almost all his weight. She chewed her bottom lip. I could tell she was torn between wanting to stay with Jake, and wanting to help us out.

"Yeah, of course, Embry. I'll figure something out. Please call me when you get there to let me know how he is? I'll go find Quil." She quickly turned, and scanned the crowd while I hauled Jake outside. Sam was just outside the gym doors waiting for me.

"What set him off?" Sam asked seriously.

"He wants to bang Bella." Sam gave me a speculative look. "No, seriously dude. He went all caveman when he first saw her. And then when she danced with the leech, his eyes phased." We got to Sam's truck, and loaded Jake into the bed. I saw Jared in wolf form in the tree line. He was going to run back with us. I hopped into the bed with Jacob, and kicked off my shoes in case I need to phase. "Also, the leech has the hots for Bella," I added hastily.

"One problem at a time, Embry." Sam sighed and sped off towards the Rez.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Whew! So looks like something's up with Jake! I wonder what it could be? (grins evily)

Newton getting punch on him was all for Mandi, who thought it would be funny (I agree, oh Mike.)

What did you think of Embry's POV? I felt he was necessary here so we could tell what was happening to Jake.


	15. Eternal Flame

Eternal Flame was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and The Bangles' own Susanna Hoffs.

SM owns these characters while I just like to see "What if?"

Chapter 15 – Eternal Flame

EPOV

"Bella, wait." I hurried to catch her as she ran through the gym in search of her friend.

How was it that I was chasing her through the high school gym? Only moments prior I thought I had finally made some progress with her. The night had gone from a beautiful nightmare to a sweet dream, only to be roughly awoken by the cruelness of reality.

Watching Bella interact with Jacob brought out emotions in me I had thought were long dead. I was surprised by the flare of resentment, almost fury, that I had felt seeing them dance or worse, seeing them kiss. I had read about jealousy a hundred thousand times, and seen actors portray it in a thousand different plays and movies. I believed I understood it, but the intensity with which it hit me had surprised me.

The more I had focused on Jacob's mind, the more complicated the feelings got. Coupled with my envy was also concentrated desire. All of Jacob's thoughts revolved around Bella. His every action, every thought, was centered on her. She would smile, and he would remember another smile. She would laugh, and he would conjure images of them laughing together. A touch, a kiss, every action had a slew of memories attached. It was a delightful torture until I nearly came undone.

I watched them hold each other while dancing, and couldn't help but become aroused. Jacob's hands were moving further down her body, and I was concentrating so hard on him, that it felt like they were my hands. Focusing so intently on Jacob's mind made it easier to feel like it was me dancing with Bella. It was like it was me holding her close, and my hands were running down her backside, cupping her ass. It was almost too easy to replace Jacob with myself in his thoughts. I was enraged when she was dragged away from him to dance with the other girls, because it denied me intimate access to her.

Even though I saw in Alice's mind how she taught Bella to dance, it didn't prepare me for the real thing. She was so innocent, but also naturally sensual. The reaction she brought out in Jacob was borderline primal. He felt such a need, a passion for her that it nearly consumed me to relive his memories. I had never felt such a singularly focused mind before, he drowned out everyone else.

When she tossed her hair, his mind went blank for half of a second before I was inundated with images of a very naked Bella writhing under an equally naked Jacob, moaning his name in delight. I couldn't decipher if these were memories or fantasies, only that they were so intense in his need for her; I also reached out for her at the same time he did.

I wanted her. I was so caught up by Jacob's longing for her; I needed to be with her. I formulated a plan that allowed me some private time with Bella. Propriety dictated that I should declare my intentions for her. I needed her to know what I felt for her. I needed her to know I would treat her like a princess, and that she would want for nothing.

_I needed her to want me back. _

A part of me realised the selfishness of this, but I buried it deep inside with the monster that longed to devour her.

I slyly bribed the deejay to play a song I had hoped would express all my feelings to her, while also ensuring I would be able to dance with her exclusively for its entirety. I held back nothing to let her know she had better options available than a poor boy who could offer her so little.

I timed it so that I was standing next to her as the deejay made his announcement. As the Bangles came through the speakers, I positioned her to so that she would receive the full brunt of my vampire breath as I serenaded her so that she would understand my feelings. I wanted her to know that she should be mine.

_Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling  
>Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand?<br>Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming?  
>Is this burning an eternal flame?<em>

_I believe it's meant to be, darling  
>I watch when you are sleeping, you belong to me<br>Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming  
>Or is this burning an eternal flame?<em>

_Say my name, sun shines through the rain  
>A whole life so lonely, and then you come and ease the pain<br>I don't want to lose this feeling_

Truer words had never been spoken, and I saw that it was working. Bella had her eyes closed and was leaning closer and closer to me. Thankfully due to the wolf stench, my inner beast was tamed from the bloodlust, and I only needed to worry about the correct pressure in which to kiss her.

Then the dim-witted wolf arrived frantic over Jacob, and the moment was lost.

I was then reduced to chasing her through the gymnasium. I offered her my assistance in getting home, selfishly hoping for more time with her. However Lauren offered to drop Bella at her house, on her way to taking Quil home. Since my Vanquish couldn't fit everyone, I conceded defeat and watched them all leave together.

_A whole life so lonely, and then you come and ease the pain  
>I don't want to lose this feeling<em>

JPOV

I felt like I had been submerged in lava then rolled in broken glass. My tongue was thick in my mouth, and I had no sense of surrounding. I didn't bother to open my eyes.

"Ugh," I moaned.

"Jake, buddy. How ya feeling?" I heard a distant voice. I thought that the voice was talking to me, but I wasn't sure. I just moaned again. "You'll feel better soon Jake. Just try to relax." I knew that voice.

"Embry?" I asked.

"I'm right here buddy." Embry's voice was clearer now, but I still felt like ass.

"God, what happened Embry? Why do I feel like shit?" I griped and still couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. I still had no sense of where I was, and all I felt was heat and pain.

"What do you remember, Jake?" another voice asked.

_Who the fuck was that?_

_What did I remember?_

I could only recall flashes, bits and pieces of the night. Some flashes were much clearer than others.

_Bella._

_There was a dance. _

_She came in, and then a sharp memory of how she smelled. _

_God, she had smelled incredible. I didn't even know what I smelt, but it woke up something deep inside me._

_She looked so sexy in her tight dress. Her creamy skin was bright against the dark blue fabric. It was almost like someone had painted on her skin. _

_I had wanted her, badly. _

_I ravaged her with kisses, marking my territory. I left no doubt that she was here with me._

_There was dancing._

_I held Bella tightly against me, running my hands over her body. How I wished we were alone then._

_Then there was Bella dancing seductively._

_She tossed her hair, and then another sharp memory of how she smelled._

_Her scent completely enveloped me and I was beyond turned on. _

_I wanted to take her right there on the dance floor in front of everyone. Just to let them know she was mine._

_Mine._

_Some stupid game by the dj, and Bella slow dancing with her pale friend._

_Mine. MINE._

"Whoa, ok Jake, easy there. Bring it down a few notches."

_Who the fuck was talking to me? And how in the hell did they know what I was thinking?_

"Jake, anything after the dance? Do you remember what happened when we got home?" another voice asked. No wait, I knew this one; Embry.

"Home?" I vaguely recalled Billy being outside when Embry dragged me off the truck bed. Then I think he took my clothes off.

_Wait, what?_

"Embry, are you gay?" I mumbled. Then laughter, lots of it. It was so loud. It was much too loud. "Shut up! God, my head is killing me." I tried to bring my hands to my head, but the movement felt off. I struggled to open my heavy lids.

It took me awhile to realise where I was. It took me even longer to realise I could see better than I should have been able to. I appeared to be in the woods, with only the dim light of a new moon shining down.

"Em, why am I in the woods?" I slurred. "And why did you take my clothes off? And why are there other people? And where ..." I was abruptly cut off by someone with a very authoritative voice.

"Jacob," the voice commanded, "think of the legends your father has told at many bonfires. Think of the history of our people. Think of the Spirit Warriors, of Taha Aki."

_Right. I've been left in the woods naked, by a dead spirit. Good times._

"Concentrate, Jacob." I felt like I was in school trying to give a book report.

"Um, Taha Aki was the leader of the Spirit Warriors. He, uh, called the Great Wolf to try to save his tribe from Utlapa, who had tricked his way into being Chief. He asked to share the Wolf's body, sang some tribal songs and saved the day." That sounded right. Well, it sounded more impressive when Billy told it, but I think I got the gist of it across.

"What else Jacob, what happened after?" the voice asked. Clearly the voice didn't think I got the gist of it across.

"Who are you? Why won't you answer my ques..." The voice cut me off again.

"Jacob Black, what happened next?" he boomed.

"Dude, you are worse than Mrs. Everett," I sighed. "Fine, some Cold Ones came, and Taha Aki's sons died trying to kill them. Taha Aki was so pissed he became the Wolf again. His Third Wife stabbed herself or something to distract the Cold One so Taha Aki could kill it." I definitely lacked the story telling grace my father possessed.

Leaves bristled to my left, and I turned my head to see two enormous wolves coming towards me. One wolf was gray with black spots. The other wolf was midnight black, I could barely make him out in the dark, and he was huge. Well they were both huge, at least they were from my vantage point of lying on the ground.

_Fuck my life._

"Embry," I called out. "Dude, you may either want to wake me up or get my dad's gun and save me from some giant wolves." I would have guessed that this was the most fucked up dream I ever had, but I had hurt too much for me to be asleep. "So yeah, get your ass out here, and help me." I looked around for any sign that my friend was going to barge in and save me.

_So much for that I'll be damned if I'm going to be eaten by wolves lying down. Time to stand up and kick some wolf ass._

I dragged myself off my side and tried to stand. I couldn't seem to make it past being on all fours. Except that once I was on all fours, the wolves didn't look so big anymore. I looked between the two of them, and they had made no sign of any aggressive behaviour. In fact, it looked like the gray one was wagging its tail.

"We're not going to eat you Jacob." Embry laughed. "In fact, look down."

_Why would Embry lump himself in with the wolves?_

I looked down at my hands, except my hands weren't there. In their place were giant wolf paws. They were a reddish brown colour, with tufts of fur between the toes. And they were massive. I stuck my head between my arms (well legs attached to paws now) and looked along my torso to what I thought would be my body and legs. Nope, turned out all I saw was more fur, furry legs, and a furry tail.

"Okay, now I know I'm dreaming. This is one fucked up dream." I called out to no one in particular. "But I'd really like to wake up now, so I'll just be on my way." I turned to walk away but was stopped dead in my tracks.

"Jacob, wait." A deep voice called out to me, and I had to obey it. I had fully intended on _literally_ high tailing it out of the woods, and then I froze. "Jacob, this is Sam Uley. The legends are true. We are the same Spirit Warriors as our ancestors, and we have been called to protect our people from the Cold Ones." The large black wolf calmly stalked over to me, and stopped right in front of me.

"Um," was all I could come up with. The smaller gray wolf trotted up beside the black one.

"Jake, it's me, Embry. I know it's a lot to take in buddy, but Sam's right. The stories are true. We're Giant Morphing Werewolf Rangers!" he sang like the Power Rangers theme song. Then he went up on his back haunches and started punching the air, but as a wolf it just looked wrong. So wrong.

"Jesus, Embry!" Sam shouted. "We are not Power Rangers, so stop that!" Embry fell back onto all four limbs.

It was ridiculous. There was no way any of it could be true. But the legends came from somewhere. And it would explain why Embry was suddenly hanging out with Sam.

"The pain?" I asked.

"It should be mostly gone now," Sam chuckled softly. "You only feel the pain the first time you phase."

"So how do I turn back?" I asked. I was seriously tired, and needed to go back to sleep. I wanted to wake up and have this all be a bizarre dream. "Wait? How are we talking?" I suddenly realised that through this entire exchange, no mouths (or muzzles) had moved.

"Telepathy!" Embry crowed. "We can speak in our minds when we're wolves. Cool huh?" I saw the black wolf rolls his eyes at the grey wolf.

"Yes," Sam continued calmly, "having one pack mind makes it's easier for us to coordinate a hunt. So we can read each other's thoughts while in wolf form." He hesitated before continuing. "As for changing back, that may require some time and practise for you. You need to find the heat inside you and calm yourself, centering the heat deep within you.

_He sounded like a yoga instructor._

"I've never taught yoga Jake. I'm just trying to help you change back." The black wolf rolled his eyes again, this time at me.

_Ah shit, he heard me. Right, mind reading._

"Right, sorry Sam." I dipped my giant wolf head at him.

"I must say Jacob, you are remarkably calm considering everything we've told you. Most have reacted, well, not as composed as you. I don't even want to think about how Paul was bef..."

"What?" I interrupted. "There are more?" I briefly thought about Sam's gang. "Let me guess, Paul and Jared?"

"Again, Jacob. Well done." Sam nodded appreciatively. "Why don't you try to phase back, and we can talk about this more?" he suggested. "But don't be discouraged if you can't do it at first. It took us all awhile."

_Right, the heat thing._

"Embry," Sam commanded, "phase out and then back in again so Jacob can see what it feels like." Embry did as he was told, and I felt a warm ripple in the air around me as he phased back to his human form. I felt it again as he came back to wolf rom.

I closed my eyes and focused myself on finding the inner heat, as Sam had suggested. At first, I thought it was impossible because everything felt hot. Then I found it. There was a warmth that I contracted in from my skin (well fur), through my spine, to a point opposite my belly button. I felt the ripple, and found myself sitting on the forest floor, human, and as naked as the day I was born. Someone threw a pair of cut off shorts at my head. I pulled them up as Sam and Embry appeared again, but in human form.

"Dude!" Embry cried. "That was epic! You're a total natural at this. It took me twelve hours to phase back with Sam, Jared and Paul all showing me like a gazillion times." He joyfully patted my back as we walked back to the Rez. I didn't quite share his enthusiasm.

"Awesome. I'm a natural at turning into a giant wolf and back again. Why wouldn't I be pumped?" I said sarcastically as we reached the edge of the tree line. Paul and Jared, in human form, were waiting for us there. Paul had his eyebrow arched looking at Sam in question.

"There are many things about Jacob's transformation that differ from our own. I think it best if we head inside to talk about everything." Sam led the way to Emily's house. Despite the hour of night, I could smell something incredible coming from her house. Evidently I wasn't the only one as Jared, Paul and Embry broke out into a run to get there first.

We entered Emily's small house to the smell of freshly baked muffins. Emily was in the kitchen, filling up more cups with muffin mix. Sam walked over to her and gently traced her scars with kisses, until he kissed her fully on the mouth.

Everyone on the Rez knew about the Sam/Leah/Emily drama, it was common gossip. Sam and Leah had been high school sweethearts, until one day Emily; who was Leah's cousin, came to visit. Sam broke up with Leah and then pursued Emily. Emily was horrified, and basically told Sam to get lost. He followed her everywhere like a lost puppy. Then he saved her from some bear that had mauled her, and they had been together ever since.

I looked closely at her scars, and realised that it wasn't the bear that had attacked her, but a wolf. I felt sick. Seriously sick. I knew I turned green because Emily looked at me rather concerned.

"Jacob, have something to eat. You'll feel better in a bit." She offered me the plate full of muffins, and smacked the others with a wooden spoon when they tried to take one. "This has been a rough night for Jake," she admonished, "he's going to need these muffins more than you."

Embry snorted.

"Not our Jake, he's a prostar," he bragged. "He phased after being shown once, set a new wolf record." He shoved a whole muffin in his mouth after that statement. Sam nodded in agreement and ushered everyone into the living room.

"Jacob, what you have to understand is that we all had very different experiences than you did this evening." Sam sat down on an old leather recliner, but leaned forward to look at me directly. "The rest of us were in bed with a fever for a few days before we changed. Our changes were a direct result of us becoming angry, or losing our temper." He not so subtly eyed Paul at the same time he said 'temper'. Paul snorted in response.

"So why did I change then? I was having a great night, and I felt fine until Embry started pulling me outside." Well that part wasn't exactly true. I had started to feel sick when I saw Bella dancing with her friend. Embry and Sam exchanged a look, then Sam sighed and addressed me directly again.

"We have a few different theories on that," he hedged. "But before we get into the how's and why's, we'd like to talk to you about our purpose, patrols, secrecy, things like that. The five of us spent the next three hours talking about their experiences with 'phasing' as they called it. They explained that I would be stronger than I was before, and have a heightened sense of sight and smell. Sam laid out a patrol schedule and clarified what was our land, and what to look out for. We discussed the need for keeping this a secret from everyone. I was lucky that my father was on the council. He not only knew about this, but had been expecting me to change.

Sam got up and shuffled everyone outside.

"Jake, we have some more information, but I think Emily would prefer if we discussed this outside." He quickly shut the door to the cottage, and led us back towards the woods. "In your first few weeks, you'll find that your emotions may be...volatile. Sometimes you may find yourself shaking, this means you are on the verge of phasing. Try to either calm down, get outside, but most importantly get out of sight." We made our way back into the forest, back into the clearing I woke up in last night.

Sam and the others arranged themselves in a loose semi-circle around me. Their stance suggested that they were acting defensively, almost as if they expected me to phase at any moment. To be honest, I wasn't feeling overly emotional, but I was extremely tired. All I wanted to do was pass out in my bed.

Sam nodded to the other three, who promptly ran behind the bushes and returned as wolves.

"Jake, I've asked the others to phase as we have one more thing to discuss, and I don't think you'll like it. I'll be amazed if you don't phase after we tell you." He looked me directly in the eye, but held his head at an angle that came across as sympathetic. He hesitated before proceeding.

"As you know we have a treaty with a group of Cold Ones that claim to not hunt people, recognized by their yellow eyes." Sam shifted his weight to his other leg before proceeding, he seemed unusually anxious. He paused, as if unsure on how to continue.

"Sam, just spit it out. You're making me edgy and I just want to finish this up so I can get some sleep." I grumbled. Sam squared his shoulders.

"Our treaty is with the Cullens. The same Cullens that are friends with Bella. Now you see why I questioned you about the party, and her involvement with them." He paused to let me consider that before continuing. "You should also know that after being at the dance, Embry is pretty sure that one of the leeches has a thing for Bella."

I let that sink in for a few minutes.

"So let me get this straight. My tiny girlfriend is not only friends with blood sucking leeches, but one of them wants to bone her?" I chuckled. Then I let out a huge guffaw, and held my sides. Sam looked at me like I had grown three extra heads. Tears streamed down my face. "Nice try guys. Hilarious initiation prank." I walked over and patted Embry on the head. "Seriously though, I'm still not sure if I believe this wolf business, let alone Bella partying it up with vamps." I shook my head and wiped the tears of my face. Embry nudged his nose into my ribs and pushed me back into the middle of the clearing.

"Jake, this isn't a joke. We need to figure out some way to warn Bella of the danger she is in without violating our side of the treaty. We can't start a supernatural war over your girlfriend, but I don't want to see her get hurt." His eyes shimmered on his last word, and I knew he was thinking of Emily.

"You're serious?" I asked.

"This isn't something I would joke about." Sam replied.

"She's in danger?" I couldn't bear to think of anything happening to Bella.

"More so now that one wants her as a mate."

I exploded into a giant ball of fur.


	16. You Give Me Fever

I am lucky enough to have this chap beta'd by the super-amazing Leelator! I can't thank her enough for her amazing ideas and insight, as well as her thorough knowledge of dialogue vs action tags! Thank you Lee!

Chapter 16 – You Give me Fever

BPOV

Four days. It was four days since the dance, and four days since I saw or heard from Jacob. Embry called the night of the dance and told me that Jacob was delirious with fever, but otherwise all right.

When I asked Billy to see if there was anything I could do, he was adamant that I stay far away to prevent me from catching whatever it was that Jake had. In all likelihood I was exposed already. I was positive that Jacob needed me—Billy couldn't make soup at all! When I voiced my complaint to Charlie, he told me that Emily was making sure Jacob was well fed. Sam had suffered a similar fever a few months ago.

I was morose and robotic at school; my concern for Jake had me thoroughly distracted. Mr. Berty called on me in English, and I didn't even hear the question. I had no idea what we were discussing. Fortunately, Edward whispered the answer to me, which I quietly repeated, and Mr. Berty continued his lesson. I gathered my things automatically as the bell rang.

"Bella, are you okay?" I felt Edward's cool hand lift my chin up so I would be forced to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, thanks for the answer, Edward. I'm just a little distracted. Jacob is pretty sick, and I haven't heard from him in awhile." We walked together to our next class.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked. I laughed humourlessly.

"Not unless you have some magic cure-all that will give me immunity to disease." Edward's head jerked and a look I couldn't identify passed over his face. He caught me staring and quickly rearranged his features.

"Nope, no magic cure alls here." He chuckled. "I can, however, offer you a study partner for our upcoming test in _Espanol_." Edward's grasp of the language was enviable. I never made Spanish words sound—well—Spanish. Also, I had forgotten all about our quiz.

"When is that? Tomorrow? Blargh." I sighed.

"Blargh?" Edward asked. His eyebrow was raised in confusion.

"You know, blargh. That noise your mouth makes when you don't like something and it stays open a little too long?" I showed him in slow motion, deliberately left my tongue out and to the side and crossed my eyes to emphasize my point. I uncrossed my eyes to find Edward staring at me.

"Honestly, Bella, I must say that in my whole life, I have never met anyone quite like you." He leaned towards me and, as I inhaled, I felt slightly dizzy.

"Er ... " what was I saying? I took another breath to compose myself, and shook my head. "Maybe you should get out more, go see the world. You really haven't lived very long." Edward paused a beat, looked at me incredulously, and then broke out laughing. Loudly. He laughed harder than I had ever seen him. "Um, okay," I mumbled, interrupting his laugh fest. He ignored my comment.

"So revision session after school?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." I needed all the help I could get. "Will Alice want to come as well?"

"Um, no," he stammered. "She, uh, studied this weekend. It'll just be you and me." He shyly looked at me through his eyelashes.

Uh-oh. I recognized that look. Eric Yorkie was constantly gazing at me. Although I had zero experience with boys in Arizona, I began to quickly understand what certain stares meant in Forks, even if I didn't acknowledge them.

"Okay, so two _friends _cramming after school. Sounds like a plan to me." I discreetly glanced up from my book to make sure he understood me. Nothing about his features changed, so I wasn't hopeful he got my hint.

The day dragged on.

After last bell, Edward appeared at my locker, seemingly from thin air. I jumped when he cleared his throat.

"Hey, I gave Alice my keys so she can get home. Can I ride with you to your place?" He leaned against the locker next to mine, looking like a model in a Teen Vogue ad. Jessica Stanley walked by and gave me a questioning look, before she signalled for me to call her later. Only Jessica could turn a study session into some kind of gossipy intrigue.

"Yeah, that's cool, as long as you don't make fun of the old girl." I hefted my bag over my shoulder and turned towards the parking lot. I saw the taillights of Edward's Volvo leave the parking lot, just as we reached my truck. After I climbed in, I reached across to open the passenger door. "Remember to be nice because she's old enough to be your car's grandma."

I backed out and headed for the highway while Edward grimaced and sat unbelievable still. It didn't even look like he was breathing. He cracked the window on his side and seemed to relax a little.

"Oh, she's not that bad. You're a little snobby about cars, aren't you?" I harrumphed and focused my eyes back on the road.

"I'm not a snob. I was just thinking that Rosalie would probably like to get her hands on this thing." He gave me his crooked half smile and winked.

"Sure, sure." I laughed, but stopped abruptly. The simple line I picked up from Jacob brought the ache of missing him back to the forefront of my mind. I hoped he was okay. Edward seemed to sense where my thoughts were, and was characteristically quiet for the duration of the ride. He appeared to grow agitated as we approached the driveway, but I stopped paying attention to him the second I saw Jacob standing in front of my house with Embry and Sam.

I don't even remember parking the truck or opening my door. I just flew towards Jake, and jumped into his waiting arms.

Peppering his face with kisses, I noted he still felt quite warm.

Suddenly Jake stiffened, and his eyes narrowed when he glanced at my truck. Edward closed the passenger door, and was carrying both of our schoolbags. A confident smile spread over his face as he approached the house.

"Hello, Jacob. Nice to see you again." He nodded at us, and I was abruptly Jacob was holding me up while my legs were wrapped around his waist. I tried to get down, but Jake held onto me even tighter.

"What's he doing here?" Jake growled.

JPOV

"I'm fine!"

"Jake, please just lis—" I glared at Embry and cut him off.

"No, you listen, Embry. I'm going to see her today. I've been going crazy with worry about her, and need to see her."

"But, Sam thinks—" He tried to continue.

"I don't give a flying fuck what Sam thinks may or may not happen. You can't keep me from her." I could feel the wolf clawing at me, trying to escape; it wanted to attack Embry and force him to quit arguing, but I wouldn't let it go. I needed to stay in control to prove my point.

We both turned as we heard Sam's footsteps along the path to my garage.

"Are you really so willing to jeopardize her safety?" he asked quietly. I looked up and saw the pain in his eyes. I hated seeing Sam when he was like that. It was so easy to look past the pain and see the shame and self-loathing he had for harming Emily.

"I could never hurt her." I whispered. "Please," I begged, sinking to my knees. "I need to see her."

"Will you let us go with you?" Embry turned to help me off the ground.

I nodded emphatically, willing to concede almost anything at that point if it meant I could see Bella.

She would be getting out of school soon. If we left now, we'd arrive just before she got home. We loaded into Sam's truck, and he drove the familiar path to her house. After a few minutes of sitting the porch, I heard the loud rumbling of what could only be Bella's truck.

I stood as she pulled into the driveway and had eyes only for her. She leapt from the truck and came crashing towards me, kissing me all over. The moment she touched me, I felt calmer than I had in the past four days.

I sensed Sam and Embry tense behind me, but ignored them as I basked in Bella's presence. When she and I were like this, I _knew_ I could never hurt her. I inhaled deeply, wanting to savour her scent, but something was wrong. She smelled sickly sweet. Finally I allowed my senses to expand past my Bella bubble and saw what made Sam and Embry anxious.

That fucking leech was grinning cockily at us as he strolled from the truck to the porch carrying Bella's bag. _My_ Bella's bag. And _my_ Bella reeked like him.

"Hello, Jacob. Nice to see you again." He nodded and added too quietly for Bella to hear, "I've been looking after Bella while you've been ... away." I felt Bella struggle in my arms, but I just held onto her tighter. If our brief reunion showed me anything, it was that her touch soothed the beast within me. I would undoubtedly phase as the bloodsucker taunted me if I let her down. For the safety of my people, I had to keep his disgusting secret. But I was pissed.

"What's he doing here?" I growled at Bella. I meant to scare the vamp, but Bella thought I was snarling at her.

"Excuse me?" She rounded on me and beat me with her tiny fists, demanding I release her. Bella didn't get mad often, but when she did, it was enough to frighten the Chief. And he owned lots of guns.

"I'm worried sick over you for four days, and the first thing you say to me is that?" Her voice was going higher with each word, and her face was a violent plum colour. "Jacob Black you were brought up better than that. Billy would never tolerate that kind of rude behaviour." She lectured me waving her hands wildly in all directions.

"In this case he might." I heard Embry whisper to Sam. It sounded like he was laughing. The stupid leech even had a smirk on his face.

"Edward is here to help me study for my Spanish test tomorrow, since I was so worried about you all weekend I forgot about it." She poked me in the chest with every word she spat out at me. "Now, please apologize to my _friend_ for your rude behaviour." She stood with her arms crossed over her chest looking at me expectantly.

"Sorry," I started and then whispered "leech," at non-human levels. He looked amused despite my derogatory remark towards him.

Bella fished her key out of her pocket and passed it to Edward.

"I'm so sorry for all of this. The kitchen is on the left when you walk in the house. Do you mind setting up while I finish here?" she asked him gently. He looked scandalized in front of her and agreed to take their things inside. When she turned her back to look at me, his face went from sombre to cocky again. Bastard.

"Guess she's mine for the rest of the night, pup," he stated before turning to the house. Bella, of course, heard nothing. Meanwhile, he walked into her house like he owned it and made a big production of setting up their books in the kitchen.

I looked to Sam for any indication that I could either tell Bella or phase and rip the bloodsucker to shreds. Sam merely gazed back at me as if to say, "Hey, you wanted to do this." I would be having words later with both Sam and my father. I'm sure the treaty never meant to include my girlfriend.

"Jacob." Bella's voice brought me out of my planned conversations. "I'm glad you seem to be feeling much better, but I think it's best if you go home now. You should call me later tonight when you've cooled off." When I've cooled off? I've never had my ass handed to me so badly by either of my parents, and I was the one that needed to cool off? Sam and Embry were barely containing their laughter.

I reached to pull her into a hug, and she allowed it.

"So sorry Bells," I breathed into her ear. I felt her relax into my embrace as I leaned down to kiss her forehead, but had to hold my breath as she still reeked like vamp. Our eyes locked, and I knew I was already forgiven. Bella's temper was like a violent tornado. It could come on in an instant, it was terrifying, but once it waned, you were safe for the time being.

"I know you didn't mean it, Jake. It was so out of character for you." Her tiny hand reached up to caress my cheek, and she ran her fingers through my now shortened hair. I saw the look of surprise as she really looked at me for the first time since my transformation. I leaned down and closed my eyes and she ran her hands all over my face, turning my head carefully to examine my new haircut.

"Your hair," was all she whispered. She sounded hurt? Disappointed? Girl emotions were hard.

"The fever," I managed to blurt out. She looked at me, confusion all over her face. "I'm told it got in the way during my fever, so Emily cut it off." I was a terrible liar at the best of times and found it nearly impossible to lie to Bella. How was I going to pull off being a wolf around her?

"The fever." She nodded. "You're still warm. You should be in bed Jacob." She looked back at the house and sighed, rubbing her face anxiously. "I'm sorry about before, Jake. I was just so worried. Ask Charlie, I've been running a little tense all weekend." She laughed humourlessly.

"No, baby, you were right. I was rude, and shouldn't have taken it out on you. Please forgive me, Bells?" I gave her my best puppy dog eyes, which I thought would be much more authentic since I was part wolf.

She pulled me in for a deep kiss.

"Already forgiven." She smiled sweetly at me and then looked back to the house again. "I guess I should go study. Edward is waiting. I'll call later tonight, okay? But get some rest until then." She looked over my shoulder to Sam and Embry. "I'm holding you two responsible to make sure Jake gets into bed. Is that clear?" She pointed directly at them, and they suddenly stopped snickering, stood up straighter, and nodded in agreement with Bella.

She reluctantly turned and headed to the house. She hesitated at the front door before going inside to the arrogant bloodsucker waiting for her.

Sam motioned for us climb into his truck, but I was shocked that he was so ready to leave Bella at the mercy of the leech in her kitchen. There was no way was I deserting her.

He whispered, "We have to at least look like we left, or Bella will get suspicious." Oh. That made sense. "Jake, we'll drop you off around the corner, and then you can double back through the tree line. Embry and I will drive to the next street over, park the truck, and meet you at the north end of her yard." Sam really was a good Alpha. I was way too freaked out by my girlfriend being alone with a vamp to come up with a plausible plan so we could watch her and still keep the secret.

We piled back into Sam's truck and headed down the street. Embry was trying his best not to laugh at my expense. Sam had calmed considerably and was deep in thought while driving.

"Jake, I'm going to call Paul and Jared to phase while we watch the house. I think we should talk about what just happened." He briefly slowed so I could jump out of the truck and run into the tree line. A few moments later, I felt the shimmer as they joined me.

"_Talk about what happened? What's to talk about?"_ I asked as I settled myself with a good view of Bella's house.

"_Other than you getting 'pwned'?"_ Embry howled. He finally let it all out after unsuccessfully trying to rein it in.

"_Ass."_

"_Heard you got yours handed to you, rookie,"_ Paul's nauseating voice taunted. I felt the familiar shimmer as Jared phased in as well.

"_Paul,"_ Sam warned. _"I didn't tell you to tease Jacob. I told you because this is worth discussing."_ Sam and Embry joined me in Bella's yard and replayed the scene for everyone to see. From their perspective, it did look really bad. Here I was getting a verbal beat down by a girl that literally was half my size.

"_Man, I hope Kim never gets that pissed at me."_ Jared's ears flattened against his head.

"_So what did you all notice?"_ Sam asked.

"_Bella is scary,"_ Jared whispered.

I growled in response. _No dissing my woman._ Jared sank his head in apology.

"_What about Jake's reaction?"_ Sam pressed.

_What about my reaction? I didn't react. No wolfing out here._

"_Exactly, Jake! You didn't imprint. I know you locked eyes with her, but nothing happened."_ Sam seemed to think that was important, but I didn't. It didn't matter that some weird mystical crap didn't happen; I already loved Bella.

"_But what is even stranger was that you were able to hold it together during all that. Your woman arrives with a vampire in tow, the leech starts taunting you, and nothing! You didn't show any signs of shaking or phasing. Then Bella starts ripping you a new one, and again, nothing! I doubt any of us would be able to tolerate being yelled at in that way without literally raising our hackles."_ Sam was speaking so quickly it would have been difficult to catch if it wasn't telepathic. _"Jake, remember when you first phased and I told you that our experiences were all different than yours?"_

I nodded, recalling it made me feel like even more of a freak.

"_You're not a freak,"_ he argued. _"Our tempers are wafer thin. Just about everything sets off a young werewolf. It takes years for us to master the rage the wolf brings."_ I sighed, knowing he was right. I felt it in all of them from time to time—even in Embry, who was the most levelheaded person I knew.

"_But viewing tonight through your eyes, compared to how I witnessed it, was unbelievable. Not once did I feel your temper flare while being yelled at. Not once did I feel your rage get out of control, even with her so close to you."_ Sam winced at the last few words, and we all bore witness to Sam's greatest shame.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. _"There is something about her that grounds you, something that makes you a more mature wolf—an Alpha wolf. But she's seemingly not your imprint ... it's so bizarre." _

I really didn't have a response, so I just stood there as Sam prattled on about "legends" and "pack lore." At some point he wanted to consult my dad and the Council, but I wasn't super thrilled at the idea of telling them I went from wanting to bone Bella at a dance her handing me my ass. It was all too embarrassing to discuss with my father, let alone Harry Clearwater and Old Quil. When did my life get so complicated? Oh right, when I found out a vampire wanted my girlfriend for his own evil pleasure. Gross.

We ended the impromptu pack meeting with a decision that Sam and I would look into old records kept by the Council. As Alpha, Sam had access to these materials to "gain the wisdom of the elders", so it was my best shot without coming clean to the Council.

I had to hand it to Bella. She had five grown werewolves terrified of her, and she seemed to be holding her own against the vamp in her house. On more than one occasion, I overheard him trying to change the subject to something revolving around him and his crypt or undead family, and she kept right on conjugating verbs in Spanish. After a particularly long, boring, and one sided discussion about how much he liked some band, she told him that she thought she had studying under control, and he should call his sister to come get him. No less than ten minutes later, a silver Volvo pulled into her driveway, and she ushered him outside and sent him on his way.

The feelings of possessiveness I had towards her got stronger and weaker at the same time. On one hand, I felt a lot more secure that my girl was still my girl. She totally dismissed the vamp without any help from the pack or me. I couldn't have been prouder of her. On the other hand I wanted everyone to know that she was my girl, and my girl alone. The thought of busting into her kitchen, wrapping my naked body around hers, and kissing her until she couldn't think of anything but me was becoming a really good idea in my head.

I felt Sam's hand on my shoulder, and realized I had been letting out a low rumble since Bella kicked the leech to the curb.

"C'mon buddy. Let's get you home and in bed. Bella's orders." What? Was he serious?

"Ha ha, Sam. Real cute." We walked towards the parked truck, satisfied Bella was safe for the night.

"I'm serious, Jacob. Bella entrusted Embry and me to make sure you go to bed, so that's what we're going to do." He looked gravely at me, though he must have been joking. Maybe he was doing some pack initiation thing. Sam drove right up to my house, hopped out and opened the front door, and looked at my expectantly. I cautiously followed him, only to find Embry right on my heels. Good grief, were they going to tuck me in?

"Sure, sure, guys. We'll just forget all about reading those scrolls, and I'll hop into bed at 5:47 p.m. like a good boy." I rolled my eyes for effect, but they both stood there with their arms crossed over their chest.

"I'll be back with some history for us to go through. In the meantime, bed." Sam literally shoved me onto the mattress, just as Billy wheeled by my room. He gave me an inquisitive look with his eyebrow, then shrugged and rolled into the living room.

True to his word, Sam returned less than an hour later with bags full of old parchments. Do you know what wasn't fun? Examining piles of old pieces of paper trying to find really specific information, with Sam piled into my tiny bedroom. What did people do before Google? Although to be fair, I'm not sure Google could come up with a search result for "Beta who is genetically Alpha phases due to desire to mate with a white girl, who doesn't seem to be Beta's imprint." I was so desperate I tried it. I got one hundred and sixty six results, none of which were helpful.

Finally, Bella called to check that I was in bed and was being cared for. Billy heated up some of Emily's soup and brought it to Sam and me, so she seemed happy enough. Satisfied his sick joke was over, Sam finally left, promising to bring more historic artefacts the next day. I didn't keep her too long so she could study for her test. I know she stopped to make Charlie dinner, and I didn't want to take up more of her time. After all, it was my fault she didn't study over the weekend. But just because she couldn't see me, didn't mean I couldn't see her.

Satisfied that Sam was home, I phased and ran through the woods to Bella's house. At first, I was so intent on seeing her that I didn't notice the scent of vampire still lingered around the property. The closer I got to her window, the more pungent it became. I was directly under the tree outside her room when I sensed the smell wasn't from earlier in the day, but was fresh—_very_ fresh. I looked up to see Bella's "study friend" perched on a branch looking into her room.

"It's not what you think, pup." I heard whispered above me.


	17. I'll Be Watching You

Big thanks, as always to Leelator, author of "How to Seduce a Werewolf" for her insightful and amazing betaing skills. She's a genius people, really.

_Chapter 17 – I'll Be Watching You_

_EPOV_

"_It's not what you think, pup."_

I actually couldn't tell what the mongrel was thinking because he was howling so loudly. Foam gathered at the corner of his mouth, and his incisors shone in the moonlight. It was most unsettling that, after he looked up at me, his mind seemingly closed. Or I supposed his tiny brain just couldn't formulate words to express his feelings. I thought it prudent I get a handle on the situation before he got himself into trouble.

"Remember the treaty, young one. You are on Cullen land," I called down from my perch in Bella's tree.

He snarled up at me, and I still found it difficult to hear his thoughts.

"I haven't done anything to violate the treaty," I said, "so you shouldn't either." He appeared to breathe deeply and attempted to suppress his shaking body. His breathing returned to normal, and I was able to hear him again. His thoughts were quite clear.

"_Mine."_

How very caveman-like of him—monosyllabic sentences to express his thoughts, was half surprised he hadn't urinated on the tree I was in. It was all I could get from him. All I could get from him was the chant of _mine, mine, mine_ replaying in his head.

Both our attentions were diverted to Bella's room as the light went out, and she called out her goodnight to Charlie. The sound of her voice seemed to calm the beast below me, and I felt comfortable enough to use the distraction to extricate myself from the tree. His eyes closed as he focused himself back into human form. I tried to ignore the fact that he was naked.

"Okay, creep. Care to explain what you're doing sitting like a fucking stalker in a tree outside my girlfriend's window?" The pup was breathing through his mouth, and each word he spat out was carefully controlled.

"It's simple, really. After she dismissed me from our study session, no doubt because she was overly worried about _YOU, I_ was concerned for her academics. I was merely out here in case she was stumped, and then I would be able to conveniently call her to discuss the question."Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Alice would be able to tell if Bella was struggling. I simply found it comforting to watch over her, especially now that she was dating a dog. Young werewolves were highly unpredictable; it wasn't safe for her. She clearly needed my protection, even if she didn't know it.

"Bella's not your concern, leech," the mutt barked out.

"I beg to differ, puppy. I am a friend of Bella's and have her best concerns at heart," I replied. "There is nothing in the treaty that limits where I can go on our land." I subtly reminded him that if he were to attack he'd be in the wrong. He snorted at me, dog like, despite his human form.

"You don't have a heart, at least not one I can hear, corpse. Bella's friend or not, if I catch you spying on her again, no treaty on this earth will stop me from coming after you." He was seething, and I could perceive the mental effort it took him to not attack me outright. I heard a rustling behind him to discover two more wolves approaching. At the same moment, Carlisle's Mercedes flew up to the house. Carlisle and Alice instantly appeared at my side.

The mutt changed form the second that the car materialized. If Bella or Charlie had looked out their window, they would have seen the strange sight of Alice, Carlisle, and me faced off against three horse-sized wolves. There was really no plausible explanation for what was going on, and I can't imagine what we would have told Charlie had he run out the door with his shotguns at the ready.

"Edward, get in the car." I was surprised that Carlisle was ordering me to retreat but could respect that he felt the need to keep the peace. It was so … Carlisle. I felt Alice grip my arm and yank me towards the vehicle.

"Carlisle, this is our la …" I began, but was abruptly cut off by a look from my father.

"_Edward, now."_ He stood there silently glaring at me.

"My apologies for this misunderstanding, gentleman." Carlisle offered his palms out in a gesture of remorse. "Rest assured that an incident like this will not occur again." He glanced my way before getting into the car. Alice pulled me into the Mercedes, and I believe that the wolf looked smug. One last peek into his mind told me he was still is his Paleolithic mentality.

"_Mine."_

The ride home was in relative silence. Both Alice and Carlisle were doing their best to block me. I was somewhat indignant over Carlisle's decision to make us leave. According to the treaty, I'd been on _our_ land. The mutts had no right to run us off, particularly that young cub, Black. He seemed to be disregarding all the rules anyway."

Carlisle skidded to a halt in front of the house, not even bothering with the garage and called out in a voice that was louder than necessary.

"Family meeting, now."

Everyone silently gathered around our dining room table, unusually quiet given Carlisle's raised tone.

"Carlisle," Esme asked, gently putting his hand in hers. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat and shot me an apologetic glance.

"That would begin with me, Esme. I had a vision of Edward, and then suddenly he disappeared. The only way his future reappeared was if both Carlisle and I left to retrieve him." She took an unnecessary breath before she continued. "As you know, we've put together that when I started having my visions go blank, we knew somehow the wolves were involved. Up until tonight, I always saw our futures past the specific event."

"Up until tonight?" Rosalie asked. Alice nodded morosely.

"When I realized what was happening, I went through all the possible outcomes. The only one that had a clear result was for Carlisle and me to leave immediately. Everything else ended in Edward's … death." Alice looked down at the table, and Jasper reached out to rub her shoulder.

"Well, that settles it." Emmett rose from the table. "Let's go kill us some wolfies." He rubbed his hands together as he mentally pondered how many wolves he could take alone. Whatever deity might exist, may he have blessed my loyal brother. Rosalie stood to join her husband, ready to eliminate the threat to our family.

"Sit," Carlisle ordered. "We are not done here." Emmett and Rosalie's shock took over their expressions. They quietly slid back into their seats giving me a questioning stare. I simply shrugged, having no idea what had gotten into Carlisle.

"Edward," he asked "what exactly were you doing at Ms. Swan's house? My understanding was that your study session was cut short?" His mind was open, but he wanted an explanation of the vision Alice told him about on their way over—the vision of me sitting in Bella's tree.

"I feel very protective of her, Carlisle. You know more than anyone how fragile humans are. And now she has a werewolf for a boyfriend!" My hands assaulted my hair to relieve some of the frustration I felt. Why could no one see how much danger she was in? "Bella's not safe without me. She needs me, Carlisle."

"Edward, please understand that this is a very delicate situation." Carlisle looked up to the rest of the family. "Firstly, while both Alice and Edward have a friendship with Bella Swan, she is human. Moreover, she is romantically involved with a wolf. We've smelled at least four different wolf scents at the border, and now there's the addition of Ms. Swan's beau. That's five of them, significantly larger than the last pack we encountered."

"So what, Carlisle?" Emmet shrugged. "They added two new wolves. We added Alice and Jasper. And Jasper is a kick ass strategist and fighter. We could take them, easy." He leaned back in his chair with his hands linked behind his head.

"Emmett, this isn't about if we could take them. It's about the loss of life, human life," Carlisle pleaded.

"Werewolves hardly count as humans." Emmett snorted. I couldn't help but agree with my brother.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen, you will respect your father's words when it comes to valuing life," Esme chastised. He at least had the sense to look remorseful, although I could tell he really just wanted a good brawl. He winked at me across the table.

"Regardless, it would seem that Bella Swan is a delicate subject when it comes to the wolves. Despite her house being on our side of the treaty line, I think it would be best if you were not over there uninvited, Edward." I began to protest, but Carlisle raised his hand to silence me. "I'm not saying that you must terminate your friendship, however, despite your best intentions, you are in a sensitive situation. For the time being, we should not aggravate it further. Give me your word."

"Carlisle, this is preposterous. Her house is on our land, she is my friend, and she clearly lacks any instinct of self-preservation. She is in need of my services."

"Edward, this isn't forever." He gazed at me sternly. _"Your word."_

Feeling defeated, I conceded to please my father.

"I give you my word that, for now, I will wait for an invitation to visit Bella." I rose from my seat and retreated to my room. Shortly thereafter, I heard a knock at my door.

"Not now, Alice. I want to be alone." I rolled over and turned up the music I was listening to.

"_I'm sorry."_ She apologized mentally. _"They would have killed you. I couldn't lose you."_

I sighed.

"I know, Alice. I'm not mad, I just want to be alone." She left silently, planning on going for a hunt with Jasper to alleviate some of her tension and guilt. I couldn't blame her. I would do the same if she were in danger. As if the wolves posed any danger to me. I knew I could have outrun them if I needed to, but I was also a decent fighter. With my gift, I'd never lost to Emmett or Jasper when play fighting. I spent the remainder of the night worrying about Bella.

JPOV

"Sam, this is serious—like stalker serious." You have to let me tell Bella the danger she is in." I was desperate. We were standing outside my house after the peeping tom incident. I had to think of some way to let Bella know that she wasn't safe with the Cullens. I didn't want to mention the window thing; it was just too creepy to think about, and I didn't want to freak her out.

"I'm sorry, Jacob, but the rules are very clear on this. She isn't your imprint, so we can't break the treaty to tell her about them. We will obviously have to step up vigilance given their interest in her, but you can't reveal any tribal secrets." He regarded me for a moment and then softened. "I truly am sorry Jacob, but I won't change the Alpha decree I gave you earlier." He left with Jared in tow, and I had no choice but to retreat into to my house. I did not sleep well. My dreams were full of vampires running off with the girl I loved and me unable to stop them. Not the dream I was hoping to have of Bella. I was hoping to have a dream to recreate the last time she was in my bed with me. No such luck.

_Fuck my life._

The wolf in me was very unsettled by what just happened. As much as I tried, I couldn't get back to sleep after my nightmare. Something inside me needed to be close to her. I ran to her house in wolf form and watched from the tree line. The wolf demanded more. He needed to know she was safe after the leech had spied on her. I carefully crept closer to her window and that stupid tree the bloodsucker had been watching her from. I needed to think of a way to warn her about her peeping vamp. My keen eyesight noticed a footprint at the base of the tree.

_Eureka!_

I just needed to show Charlie the shoe print (clearly smaller than my own foot, but larger than Charlie's) and let his overprotective nature fill in the blanks. It was only a temporary solution to the vampire problem, but my wolf was somewhat appeased by this. He wanted me in Bella's bedroom guarding her; personally, I wanted to be in her bed as well. The wolf seemed okay with that plan too.

_Bella's bed. Bella, last time she was in my bed. Naked Bella. Things I could do to Bella in her bed._

I shook my head to clear my fantasy. The last thing I needed was to mentally replay that night while in wolf form. So far Jared and Paul hadn't said much to me as I watched over Bella, but Paul was sure to give me a hard time about it later if I let those thoughts go any further.

I followed Bella to school to ensure she got there safely, but was forced to leave when I got within sniffing distance of the vamps. Stupid treaty, with stupid Forks on their side of the line. I needed to find some way to move Bella onto the rez. Maybe she would consider transferring to the rez school? I doubted it, even if I could have told her the truth.

"Hey, Bella. Just so you know—your boyfriend morphs into a giant, hairy dog because your two closest friends at school are vampires. Do you mind transferring to the rez school so I can keep an eye on you, and so the Creepy Undead don't watch you at night?" Right, like that conversation would ever happen.

My only real hope lay in those damn scrolls that Sam kept bringing over. The council had been brought up to date on everything since it appeared that Bella was in semi-imminent danger. Old Quil also went out of his way to parade almost all the girls on the rez past me at some point or other. That just pissed me off further. First of all, I wasn't going to imprint on some chick because it was convenient for the council. Secondly, I wouldn't abandon anyone to be vamp bait. Lastly, Bella was going to be my wife and mother of my kids one day; I knew it. Old Quil could suck my balls. Fortunately, my dad adored Bella, and Harry's daughter was on the bad end of imprinting, so neither of them ever pushed anything on me.

Billy did, however, find the story about my phasing due to my desire to mate hilarious. He kept teasing me about Charlie's gun collection. I was not amused.

Bella seemed eager to see me after our forced, temporary separation. She worked through her lunch every day so she had less homework and more time to spend with me. I truly didn't deserve such a wonderful girl. Unfortunately, she always reeked of leech when I went to see her. Stupid, stinking vampires kept breathing their horrifying scent all over my girlfriend, and it drove me nuts. I hadn't had the pleasure of Bella's undiluted smell since I phased. It made being close to her very difficult. I was stuck in an awful cycle of being exposed to leech stink every day, worrying about Bella, and having my hands tied so that there was nothing I could do about it.

My only saving grace was that Charlie flipped out when I pointed out the footprint to him. He cut down several large branches of the tree, and thinned it out considerably. He stopped short of cutting it down altogether, but it was pretty sparse by the time he was through with it.

I had a mini-breakthrough with the scrolls while Bella was working at Newton's on Friday night. It dealt with a story from the pack six generations before the last.

"Sam, look at this. Look!" I thrust the tattered scroll under his nose, waving it around.

"Jacob, I can't read it while you're shaking it in my face." Sam snatched the scroll away from me, probably before I vibrated it into non-existence. He solemnly sat reading and rereading the passage. "I don't know Jacob. This seems like a long shot. It sounds super rare, rarer than imprinting even. In all the scrolls we've looked over, it's only mentioned this one time. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with the wolf. Maybe, it was a respect thing. May …"

"Maybe nothing, Sam." I cut him off. "It's worth investigating. We can, I dunno, try it out." I knew I might have been grasping at straws, but I was desperate to protect Bella from the leeches.

"Jacob, I don't want to be cruel. But Bella isn't of our tribe. She's not even native. The likelihood that she could be this is so small." Sam looked at me apologetically. I could tell he was trying to not hurt my feelings. I knew that Sam didn't have problem with Bella being white, but I could see it being an issue with some members of the council. They would laugh at the thought that the woman from one of our legends could be an outsider.

"Look, let's just test it out before we bring it before the council. Please, Sam? If it doesn't work, no harm, no foul. I will keep looking. But this is the best lead I've found in not only keeping her safe, but being with her without fear of imprinting." It was a low card to play, but I knew Sam was still sensitive about imprinting with the whole Emily/breaking Leah's heart thing.

"I don't know, Jacob." He sighed deeply. "I don't even know how we'd begin testing it, or who we would subject to it. They'd have to be kept in the dark for us to judge accurately." He rubbed his face and exhaled. "It's too bad that Quil's not a wolf. It would have been funny to watch with him as the target." We both chuckled quietly at that.

"You don't think he'll phase do you?" Although I felt bad for the time I spent away from Quil, I didn't wish such a bizarre existence on anyone. "I mean, the pack is already bigger than the last few generations."

"It's hard to say; his bloodline is strong. And previous generations didn't have seven leeches living so close." We sat and pondered how the Cullen's affected our tribe, both in our great grandfather's pack and ours. After several minutes of silence, I spoke again.

"We'll use Embry in the test. He won't mind once I tell him. He's a good guy and will understand. I'm afraid Paul would lose it if we tried to use him or Jared." Sam nodded in agreement to my proposal.

"What did you have in mind? We can't exactly have Bella play Simon Says with him." I laughed at the mental picture I conjured up from Sam's suggestion.

"I'll start with small stuff. The hardest part will be getting Bella to ask him for something. She's so independent that she's not going to like bossing him around." I racked my brain to see how I could make it work. "Maybe I can tell her it's a game."

"So, when? Is she coming to visit this weekend?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, she'll be by tomorrow after another shift at Newton's. Hopefully she won't reek of vamp." I shivered at the thought of having to spend a whole day with that smell lingering in my nose.

"Okay, but if this doesn't work you have to drop it, Jacob. We'll find another way." He patted my shoulder as he left my room.

All I needed to do was to figure out a way to test my theory that Bella was the Alpha's mate, the Alpha female of the pack.


	18. Legends

Chapter Notes: Woot woot – an update! Finally right? I was computer-less this last week and the BIL's weding, and you know – life excuses. Hopefully you'll forgive me after this chapter!

Big, huge thanks to the AMAZING Leelator, the Queen of dialogue tags. Her careful editing takes so much time and she makes amazing suggestions. I am so lucky she's willing to read my wacky story!

So here's our next chap – Jake has a theory about Bella, but needs proof to convince Sam and the council.

Chapter 18 – Legends

I was anxious. How in the hell was I going to get sweet, caring Bella to boss Embry around? It was an impossible mission, and I wasn't nearly smart enough to figure it out. Clearly I was in over my head. Sam seemed eager to take a backseat to me on the task. He claimed that it was my "interpretation" of the scroll, so it was up to me to get Bella to use an Alpha command on Embry. Since the only timeline I had was my own desire to tell Bella about my wolf side, I figured if it didn't work when she came over, I could always try again later.

Bella arrived about an hour after lunch, and I was disappointed that she reeked of vamp again. Seriously—couldn't they leave her alone for a day? Stupid, stinky parasites.

As soon as she got out of her truck, I was there and gently pressed my lips to hers. As usual, the second I touched Bella, I got carried away. I hoisted her up so her legs wrapped around my waist and backed Bells up against the cab of the truck. I pushed my body tightly against hers and slowly kissed my way from her collarbone to her jaw line. The least I could do was cover their scent with my own.

Bella moaned when my touch became more intimate. She turned her head to the side allowing me more access to her neck. My tongue gently grazed the outer shell of her ear, and she shivered in response. "Wow, if I knew that's how I'd be greeted, I'd have come sooner." Her lips eagerly met mine, and I could feel her smile through her kisses.

"Some people are chillin' at the beach. Wanna join?" I asked. It was my best effort to get Bella within chatting distance on Embry. She gave me a sweet smile and a nod as I took her hand, and we headed down to First Beach. I hoped inspiration would hit when we got there, but instead of inspiration, I got a pigskin to the head. Or more precisely, Paul saw Bella and me approaching and launched a football at my face.

He was such a douche.

The pickup game seemed to consist of a mix of wolf pack and regular rez kids. I saw Quil laughing at something Embry said. It was a relief to see them hanging out again. When I caught Sam's eye, I raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"I thought it would be a good idea to practise discipline. We can't just cut off everyone we know and expect it to go unnoticed," he said at a volume that only the wolves would hear, and then he grinned. "Plus, we can still tackle each other at full strength. It helps to take the edge off."

"So, Black, you in?" Paul called out. I looked down at Bella and smiled.

"What do you say, Bells? Wanna play some football?"

"Are you joking?" She started to giggle. "I feel bad for whatever team I'd be on."

"We'll take that as a yes!" Quil ran over with Embry and threw Bella over his shoulder. She screamed at him to put her down, but I could hear her peals of laughter as she was being carried away from me. I started to go after her, but Embry stopped me.

"Sorry, bro. If you want to get to her, you're going to have to cross the line of scrimmage." Em winked at me and shot back towards his team. Normally, I would have ended both of them, but it seemed like a good opportunity for Bella and Embry to interact and see if my theory might be proved right. Jared's imprint, Kim, was also playing, so I didn't think that Bells would be in too much trouble. Embry snapped the ball to Jared who slowly backed away from Kim as she tried to tackle him. Bella ran towards me and tried to take me down, which I happily allowed. I looked up to see Kim on Jared's back as he jogged past the makeshift goals.

My girl threw her arms up in the air and yelled, "Touchdown!"

"You know, Bells, that was an illegal tackle. I didn't have the ball." I slid my hand up her thighs to her tiny waist. She smiled and leaned towards my ear.

"I don't hear any complaints about where you ended up." Her voice was husky as her hair slid along my body. She lifted herself up while her hand not-so-accidently grazed my dick in the process. Between her words and her actions, I had a semi. Before I could respond to her boldness, she rejoined her team. I told my body to behave before anyone noticed what was going on.

All of us were having a nice afternoon hanging with friends and playing ball when Paul started running his fat mouth.

"Hey, little white girl, when you're done slumming with Jacob, I'll let you tackle me in the sand. I bet I can show you a better time than he does." He leered at her from across the beach.

"Excuse me?" Bella's face turned bright red as she gaped at him.

"Just ignore him," Embry said and tried to comfort her by putting his arm around her as if to shield her from Paul's verbal assault. I stood up to kick Paul's ass, but before I reached him, Bella walked over to confront him.

"I asked you a question." Bella was using her "pissed" voice while Paul stood there and laughed in her face. Bells was so sweet and caring it was rare when that tone entered her voice. But I knew that she was like a mama bear; no one messed with Bella's cubs. Too late, I realized the shitstorm that was about to hit. Bella in a protective fury, crazy-ass Paul, and me with a raging inner wolf were all about to go head to head—and no one saw it coming but me."

"I said, when you're done slumming with Jacob, I can show you a better time." Paul then proceeded to pump his hips in Bella's direction and made a spanking motion with his hand. Sam drug his fingers across his face, clearly embarrassed by McDouchey's display and moved towards him, but Bella's words shocked everyone into perfect stillness.

"Listen to me, Neanderthal, if you _ever_ insinuate that I'm 'slumming' with Jacob, or that he's in any way inferior to you again, I'll make you wish you were never born." Her voice sounded strange; it was deeper and carried more weight. As she spoke, the sun broke through the clouds, and the wind picked up, swirling her hair. It created a halo effect that made her appear ethereal. Something weird was going on, and it was fucking spooky. "You may think it's okay to talk down to people, but I'll be damned if you disrespect my boyfriend in front of me. I can tolerate a lot of things, but ignorance and bigotry are where I draw the line. I never want to hear another word out of your mouth unless it's an apology."

Then, just as quickly as it came on, her anger was over. The wind died down, and she was sweet Bella again. "Let's go for a walk along the beach, Jake." She reached for my hand and pulled me past Quil and Embry who stood dumbfounded. Other than Bella and me, the only thing moving on the beach was everyone's eyes watching us leave.

She swung my arm as she walked like she didn't have a care in the world or hadn't just given a verbal beat down someone literally twice her size. I was trying to figure out how to speak when I heard her giggling.

"Holy crow, I have no idea where that came from!" She laughed. "Sam looked like a fish gasping for air." I'd barely noticed Sam as I'd been completely captivated by Bella.

"Bells, that was amazing."

"I'm kind of embarrassed," she said. "My temper usually isn't that short, and I'm much better at controlling it, especially around people I don't know. I was just so furious that he would imply that being with you was 'slumming'. I know there are racial tensions with the tribe and some of the townsfolk. I just never imagined encountering it with your friends. Forgive me?" She looked up at me and her expression was so sweet that I was blown away. How on earth had I snagged such an incredibly caring, beautiful girl?

"There's nothing to forgive. I'm honored that you'd defend me like that. Not a lot of people would." I bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Still, I'm ashamed of my behavior. Maybe I should go back and apologize." She began to turn around when I stopped her.

"No fucking way! That's the hottest thing I've seen. Paul's an ass! He deserves a kick in the teeth. In fact, I'm sure everyone would like you to take him down a notch or two more often." I couldn't believe she was sorry about it.

"Still, the others must think I was rude, or stepped out of line ... being an outsider and all."

"Are you serious, Bells? Trust me, no one thinks badly of you.

In fact, I bet they think you're even more awesome since I took you here. And believe me, Quil already thought you were plenty awesome.

"Since you _brought_ me here."

"Huh?"

"The correct phrase is you _take_ something away. You _bring_ something here."

I looked at her totally confused, and then she winked at me. My girlfriend was such a hot nerd.

As soon as Bella's taillights hit the main road outside La Push, Sam was at my house, and he seemed very restless.

"Paul can't talk, Jake," Sam blurted out.

I'd spent a blissful afternoon with Bella on the beach, so I didn't really register what Sam said. "Huh?"

"He can't talk—out loud, that is. He can curse a bloody streak in wolf form." Sam actually smiled a bit as he spoke. "After you left and everyone recovered, Paul opened his mouth to say what I'm sure he thought was a witty comeback, but nothing came out. After he tried again, he started shaking, and I swear he turned purple he was so pissed. Embry helped me get him away from everyone else while Jared made some joke to cover for us leaving. Paul wolfed out just as we hit the tree line, and it took about five minutes before I could hear anything other than him swearing every word known to man and a few he must have made up. You ever hear of "Bum-ho-cli-tard?"

"What? Bum-ho-_what?_ Paul can't talk? Why?" I was still processing that lippy Paul couldn't get two words out. "Just give him an Alpha order to quit messing around."

"Don't you think I tried that, Jake? But he can already speak when he's phased so the Alpha order was useless. I tried giving it to him when he shifted back, but it didn't work." He paused and caught my eyes in a dead serious gaze. "I thought your theory was far-fetched, but, at this point, it's the only thing that makes sense to me. By the way, Embry thinks it's awesome that Bella can boss Paul around. You can guess how Paul feels about it. I don't think he'll be taking human form anytime soon."

His words caught me by surprise.

"Wait, you think Paul can't talk because of Bella? Holy shit She said '_I never want to hear another word out of your mouth unless it's an apology.'_ This is amazing! I was right!" I danced around like a lunatic alternating between awkward b-boy moves and prissy ballerina leaps.

"Hmm. We need more information, Jake. The reference is so vague and doesn't really explain much. Also, although as we may regret it, we need to get Paul's voice back."

"You sure about that?" I snorted. "Okay, I'll read it again and maybe ask the old man for some info. You can handle the angry wolf-hulk. Seems obvious to me that he needs to apologize to Bella, but I say we wait until after Halloween to tell him."

"Yeah, like that's gonna go over well." He rolled his eyes. "I'd better tell Emily not to expect me for dinner. Last time I didn't give her a heads up, she withheld brownies for a week. A week! Good luck, Jake." He ran off towards Emily's house mumbling about how women ruled the world.

"Dad, I need your help," I called out from my room after rereading the damn parchment for the thirty- fourth time. I needed more information, and no matter how many times I look at the stupid thing, it only mentioned an Alpha wolf and his mate who was the Alpha female and not an imprint.

"Well, it's nice to feel useful. What can I do for you, son?" Billy wheeled into my room looking smug.

"It's this scroll, Dad. I think it has what I need, but it's so short and vague. Is there some other reference?" I waved my hand at the papers littered across my room.

"I don't think so, Jake. These were written from memory after the originals were lost in the Great Fire. Our ancestors did their best to write everything they could remember, but only so much can be recalled from fireside telling." Billy scratched his head absentmindedly. "You should speak with Sue. She's the most knowledgeable about our history." He backed out of my room and wheeled himself towards the kitchen. "And don't worry. She knows about the wolves, so you don't need to come up with some convoluted story about why you're suddenly taking an interest in obscure legends." I could hear him chuckling from my room.

I hadn't thought of that. It would seem weird for me to start asking questions about old wolf stories out of the blue.

I ran to the Clearwater home hoping that I could catch Sue alone. I knocked on the door and was nearly bowled over by Leah on her way out, a pretty impressive feat for a girl. She nodded briefly at me before putting on her earphones and running off.

I called out as I knocked on the partially open door. Sue's head popped into view as I peeked into their house. She motioned for me to join her.

"C'mon in, Jake. I've been expecting you."

I was a little surprised at her statement.

"You were?"

She laughed at my expression.

"Jake, honey, even without all that wolf telepathy, you should know that there are no secrets in the pack. My husband's an elder. Sam told Emily, and Emily told me." She gave me an understanding smile. It was weird to be talking about wolf stuff to someone who didn't turn into a dog or related to someone who did. "And it's a good thing she and I have regular chats about the wolves. I did some research and found something very interesting." She sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her.

"You did? How? My dad said that all the history was lost." I sat down on the couch, confused.

"Yes, hun. Many of our scrolls were burned. But we're not the only recorders of our history." She looked at me expectantly, and I just stared back at her bewildered. Sue sighed, obviously disappointed in my obtuseness. "Back in the time of Taha Aki and the generations that followed, the Quileute Spirit Warriors not only protected us from the Cold Ones, but also from rival tribes seeking to take our land. Of course, their stories are painted in a different light than ours, but can provide an alternate point of view to many of the same events throughout history."

"Emily's mom!" I cried out, having finally put it together. "She's your sister, right? She was able to access information on the Makah's history?"

"Yes, Jake. She called for a chat when Emily was here last and was able to e-mail me a copy of their legend. In fact, in this instance, theirs had much more detail than ours. The story spoke of a Quileute—a Great Spirit Warrior who fell in love with a striking paleface that the Makah believed to be a powerful enchantress. They thought she ensnared the Chief using Dark Magic and commanded his warriors as if they were her own. The Chief had many options for wives, but chose to marry the witch instead, claiming that no one could compare to her beauty. It was rumored that the pull of her magic was stronger than that of the Great Spirit and that even the Raven did not play tricks on her. The Makah dared not speak any evils against the outsider for fear that she would send the Spirit Warriors after them as an act of vengeance. Her vast power drew the attention of many wicked demons, and the Spirit Warriors defended her with their lives. So immense was the Makah's dread of the sorceress they enacted treaties with the Quileute in hopes that her magic would protect them as well." Sue paused to drink some water and hesitated before she continued.

"Do you know what they called her?" I shook my head no, but obviously the question was rhetorical.

"They called her the _Toop-kooh Kwar-less_, Jake." Sue gave me a significant look. "That loosely translates into Black Swan."

"Get the fuck out." I clapped my hand over my mouth when I realised who I was talking to. "I'm sorry, Sue. I'm just ... I..." I couldn't form a complete thought, let alone a sentence to apologize to Sue. It had to mean something. There were too many similarities. The question was whether Sam and the council thought it was close enough for me to reveal tribal secrets to Bella—like the fact I morph into a horse-sized wolf.

"Thank you, Sue. Thank you so much for telling me this." I swept her up into a big hug and shot out the door before she had a chance to recover from my excited outburst.

I ran to the edge of the woods so I could shift and see how things were going with Sam and Paul. I would need Sam's help to convince the Elders to let Bella in on the secret. They would have to see the whole thing with Paul as proof. As I felt my mind join the pack's, I sensed they were on their way to Bella's house.

"_Nice work, Sam." _ I was always up for a reason to visit Bella.

"_What, no 'Way to go, Paul'? I'm the one that got voice raped." _Paul's tone was an odd mix of surly and sanctimonious.

"_You got what you deserved, shit-head. Besides, she didn't do it on purpose."_

"_Whatever, this is my last resort._ _If this doesn't work, you two are going to have a super-pissed wolf to deal with." _

"_And that's different from every day how?" _Sam agilely jumped out of the way of Paul's lunge.

As I ran to catch up to them, I replayed my conversation with Sue.

"_Black Swan? Really?" _Sam was silent while he contemplated the meaning of the name in addition to everything else.

"_Whatever, man. I don't care what her name is, was, or will be. I just want this bullshit to be over. _I gotta be able to talk when I'm not a wolf. That shit is just wrong."

I caught up with them at the Fork's city limit, and we made our way towards the tree line in the Swans' backyard. Sam and I ran a quick perimeter to ensure the leech hadn't been making any more house calls to Bella's window.

We phased and quickly threw on the shorts and t-shirts we'd been wearing earlier in the day.

"Okay, Paul. I'm going to take some pity on you and explain to Bella why you're here. All you have to do is apologize and hopefully that'll fix it." Paul's eyebrows rose up to his hairline as he gave me a speculative look. "Gimme a break, dude. We're flying by the seat of our pants here. I have no idea if this will actually work, or if it does, what that means." He rolled his eyes at me and shrugged his shoulder as he motioned me forward with his chin. Even Sam seemed amused by his inability to speak, even though Paul's facial expressions spoke volumes.

I jumped up to the front door and rang the bell, while Sam and Paul hung out behind me on the steps. I could tell it was Bella coming by the sound of her soft footsteps.

As soon as she saw me, Bella smiled.

"What are you doing here?" She leaned in to give me a hug, her hair still wet from her shower, and then I was hit full on by Bella's essence. For the first time since I had been changed, I smelled her clean, undiluted, vamp free scent.

I stood there, unable to say anything as I lost complete control of my body. The wolf was trying to get out, to get closer to its mate. He was taking over, becoming stronger, more powerful, and I couldn't stop it. There was an authoritative shift inside me, and I knew that somehow I just became Alpha.

Sam must have felt the change, too, because he ran faster than he should have in front of Bells and pushed me down the steps, placing himself between her and me. My wolf didn't like that, but the last part of me that was still human recognized that Sam was trying to protect her because I was phasing ... on Bella's front porch.

End Notes:

My apologies that my Makah isn't all that authentic. I believe the word I used is actually crane or duck – I couldn't find the word for swan. If anyone knows it, I'll happily change it – no offense was meant by my inability to write Makah. So...thoughts? Jake's wolf certainly seems to like Bella, council be damned!


	19. Snow White

An update? From me? What? I know, I know – I've been HORRIBLE at updating these past few months.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to review and msg me and ask if I was going to finish this story. Yes, this story will be finished. And it will be epic, and win awards, and people will write songs about it. Well, maybe not, but it will get finished.

I also want to thank the AMAZING Ms. Leelator. The queen of Em (not En) dashes, dialogue tags and lemons. Where can I even begin to list all the amazing help she provided with this story? She took the sour lemon I had tried to write and turned it into lemon zest! And she's so busy with her personal life and helping out her friends and taking on incredible projects, I don't know how she found the time to help me at all! She's an amazing beta, and I'm lucky she even bothers with me!

Now for the good news – I hope to start updating on a more regular basis – like weeks instead of months. I'm coming into a bit of free time and I fully intend of getting this story wrapped up! Hooray!

As per usual SM owns all these characters and I just like to see "What if?"

**Chapter 19**

BPOV

Cicadas. I hadn't heard cicadas since leaving Arizona, but something was off. The sound wasn't quite the same. It sounded like a high pitch keening but not. It was actually closer to whining.

_Hold on._

_Why was I lying on the ground? Where was I?_

I opened my eyes, and the moon and stars gradually came into focus. I became aware of the familiar shape of my backyard. Then I heard the whining again. I looked towards the noise and found myself staring into the eyes of the biggest animal I had ever seen. The dark red wolf was lying next to me with its nose resting on its paws. As I rolled to fully face it, the wolf cried out again. It sounded injured, but I couldn't see very well in the dark. Inexplicably, I felt the urge to comfort it; the painful sound it made pulled at something inside me.

I caught some movement in the tree line out of the corner of my eye. Standing at the edge of my yard was a huge black wolf, and next to it – Paul the jerk from earlier. He gave me a cautious wave, pointed at the wolves, and then flashed two thumbs up.

_What. The. Hell?_

I tried sitting up, but when I moved, the russet wolf cried out again. It inched its way closer, crawling on its belly until I felt a soft, wet nose under my hand. Somehow while unconscious, I had tamed an enormous beast. It was silly, but I felt like Snow White frolicking with the animals in the forest. I stroked the muzzle of the beast with hesitant fingers. The dark fur was silky to touch, and as my hand made a second pass, it closed its eyes and made a contented noise in the back of its throat.

_Take that Snow White._

"So are you going to tell my why there are two enormous, but tame wolves in my yard, or just give me the thumbs up all night?" Paul pointed to himself, as if asking whether I was speaking to him or not. "Are you always so helpful?"

I glared at him. My new furry friend started shaking under my hand like it was laughing.

_Right. A laughing, tame wolf that speak English._

Paul then proceeded to pantomime a convoluted story that I had no hope of following. He was standing, and then he was on all fours. He jumped around, pointed to his mouth and then gave me the finger. Both the black and red wolf growled when he did that. At the end, he just stared at me as if I should have understood everything he just acted out. My patience for his bizarre behavior had waned long before he made an offensive gesture at me.

"Look, I get that for whatever reason you don't like me. Or maybe you're a rude jerk. But I just woke up in my backyard to find two giant wolves and an inconvenient mute who had plenty to say earlier today. So if you have any explanation, I'd appreciate it if you spit it out."

He looked at me for a beat and then opened his mouth. Nothing happened. I was no lip reader, but I knew the next few words were not something one usually heard in polite company. When he paused to take a breath, the black wolf head butted him in the gut and snarled. Paul took a beat to compose himself and then tried again.

"Sorry." He looked surprised to have said it and then started whooping until the black wolf body checked him. "Look, chica, you have no idea the shitstorm you started. At least I can fucking talk again." He shook his head at me, like it was my fault he couldn't speak. "As for the wolves, what's the last thing you remember?" He crossed his arms across his chest and kept saying words out loud sporadically. I ignored his Turrets and tried to think back. The last thing I remembered was Jake's sunny smile.

"Jake came over." I said out loud for Paul's benefit, but he was still talking to himself. "Jake came over and gave me a hug, and then ... then I woke up in the backyard. No... wait!" I stood quickly, and the red wolf whined again. Crazy images bombarded my head, and my poor brain couldn't make sense of what it saw. Jake was on my porch, then he started shaking, and Sam pushed me behind him. "Jake was there and then a wolf was there. Oh, God, is Jake okay? What happened to Jake?" I frantically looked for a sign of either Jake or Sam but saw only the red and black wolf.

"I thought you were a nice wolf!" I scolded the red one and smacked its nose. "You ate my boyfriend!" The red wolf looked surprised I'd hit it, while the black one looked more shocked about the whole exchange. Paul started laughing hysterically.

"Oh, my God! That was the best thing I ever saw! No wonder Jake keeps you around." He paused long enough to leer at me like he did earlier. "My offer stands, hot stuff. I like 'em feisty." The red wolf stopped looking startled and snarled viciously at Paul. It really did seem like the wolves could understand our conversation. Paul raised his arms in mock surrender.

"Chill, dude. Sorry. Okay, Bella. It is Bella, right? Okay, Bella, here's the sitch. Jake, Sam, and I have some big tribal secrets to keep, but you seem kinda involved. Long story short—your new furry friend is Jake. Surprise!"

I had no idea what to say to that. I just stared blankly at Paul and probably would have for some time if Charlie hadn't come outside looking for me. I heard him call my name, and then I was suddenly alone in the backyard.

"Bells, what are ya doing out here? I thought I heard Jake earlier?" Charlie rounded the corner to find me standing there very perplexed. Telling him the truth was out of the question unless I felt like being committed. The padded cell was looking pretty good, though.

"I, uh, was admiring the stars. The sky is ... um ... really clear tonight. Jake was here a while ago with his friends, but he's not here anymore." None of that was a lie per se. It was about as close to the truth as I was going to get.

Charlie gave me a strange look which I totally deserved and cleared his throat.

"Okay, then. Heading in for my night shift. You be sure to lock up when you're done ... stargazing."

"Be safe," I called out.

"Always am," he automatically replied. He hopped in his cruiser and backed out of the driveway. I was left standing in the yard, questioning my sanity.

At some point, I decided that I was cold and had probably imagined the whole thing. I went inside and sniffed around the kitchen because I had obviously eaten something hallucinogenic. On my second pass examining the table, I heard a thud on the front door. I looked out the peephole to find an anxious looking wolf on my porch. I threw the door wide open.

"What are you doing? Someone will see you! Get inside." It was probably poor judgement to invite a horse sized wolf into my house considering part of me still thought it ate Jacob. But I certainly didn't want anyone seeing it on my front porch. It ducked its head and squeezed into the hallway. A bushy tail knocked over the dish full of keys we kept in the entryway. Immediately, the tail went between the legs as it sat down, clearly trying not to disturb anything else.

"Are you really Jacob?" For some reason, it didn't feel odd to be addressing the wolf. He nodded his head twice and sat as still as he could without bumping into the walls. I reached my hand towards his snout and stroked the soft fur. His massive head tilted into my palm as I cupped his face.

The air shimmered around us, and I realised that I was no longer sobbing into fur but onto smooth skin.

"Jacob?"

"It's me, sweetheart. Don't cry." I felt arms go around me, and I tried to see if he was all right, but he was holding me too close, and his silky head was buried in my neck.

"Bella, I—" His words cut off as he ran his nose up the length of my throat. "God, you smell so fucking good, honey." The tone of his voice was different, rougher, and there was an underlying resonance that wasn't quite ... human.

"Jake?" I wanted to look at his face, but honestly I was scared what I might see. Did his transformation mean _he_ had changed, or was he still my Jacob? Finally lifting his head, he stared down at me. My fears were warranted. The wolf was right under the surface.

Everything about Jake was just a little different. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but I knew every contour of his face. His eyes glinted, and I saw a new hint of gold around edges that used to be dark. His mouth was fuller, his cheekbones more pronounced—perhaps because he was breathing so deeply. His scent, a mix of the ocean and forest, seemed stronger. There was a muskiness I'd never noticed before, and I was instantly hooked on the addicting smell.

He wasn't my Jacob of old but a mix of wolf and man ... and I wanted every part of him. His head lowered, and those full lips started kissing and licking mine then trailed a path to my collar bone.

"Shh, sweetheart, it's okay. I'm here, and I love you. So much." When that gravelly voice whispered in my ear, heat shot to my core.

The sensation of his mouth dragging a circuit up and down my neck felt like sparks of electricity on my skin. As teeth gently nipped and bit me, and fingertips traced the planes of my body, I realized there was a subtle change in his movements. Gone was the hesitant boy. For the first time in my life, I was being handled by a self assured man.

I heard a deep, throaty rumble and suddenly found myself caged against the wall. Jacob loomed over me, and I loved the helpless feeling of being his prisoner. But instead of being frightened, my hands raked into his hair while my tongue sought out his.

_Oh, God, his taste ..._

His mouth was a combination of erotic flavors. It was as if the scents I noticed before had merged into one delicious mix, and I didn't think I could get enough of it.

_I want more. __**I need more**__._ For the first time in my life, I was spiralling out of control.

Pulling my body flush against his, I melted into his heat. My nipples pebbled against the skin of his chest while blood pounded in my veins, and moisture seeped between my legs. Then I was being lifted into his arms, and I instinctively wrapped myself around him, my core seeking friction from his body. Clothing became a barrier since it kept me from what I needed, and I rubbed myself against any part of Jacob I could reach.

He paused and inhaled. "God, Bells. You have no idea how incredible you smell." I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. "Bedroom." He growled out the word before kissing and nipping at my lips. In a flash, I was carried up the stairs and laid on the bed while his tongue searched and stroked mine as I clung to him. When he stood back to look at me, I immediately missed his closeness.

Only then did it dawn on me that Jacob was naked, and I couldn't help devouring every inch of his body. He was the perfect male specimen, so beautiful ancient artists could have carved him from stone. When he caught me ogling him, he smiled, but it wasn't the Jacob smile I was used to. The difference was in the eyes; they were dark and hungry. An involuntary shiver rippled down my skin.

He moved, kneeling on the bed and then straddling my body, trapping me beneath him. My sweatshirt was torn off me like it was made of paper, but the cold air was a relief against the fire burning all over my skin. At first he only admired, laying his fingers over my heart, the animal retreating for a moment. I covered his hand with my own and brought it to my lips, gently kissing each finger. He looked at me like I was something to be worshipped, and then I watched as his eyes changed. That eerie hint of gold returned, and I felt a rumble coming from his chest.

My wolf was returning.

Jacob lowered his head to my breast, and his rough tongue circled my nipple before he pulled it into his mouth. Sensations shot between my legs when his teeth teased and nipped me. I felt fingers ghost down my body until they reached my hips, and, after a few seconds pause, I heard fabric tearing. My jeans and panties were discarded, and then Jake used his knee to spread my legs while his hand moved towards my center. I lay there open and vulnerable.

Yearning for his touch, my body bucked when he finally rubbed a circular path that mimicked what his tongue was doing to my nipple. Minutes later, his thumb found my clit as his mouth explored the other breast. There was no reason to show him how I wanted to be touched. The wolf in Jake seemed to know exactly what I liked, what I needed. He'd become a master, and his fingers played a symphony on my body.

All the while, his eyes never left mine. Every lick, every suck, he watched my reaction. When his fingers penetrated me, first one and then two, I couldn't keep contact any longer, and my eyes rolled back in my head. The pressure building deep within me was too much to contain. Letting myself go, I climaxed into his hand, crying his name as I came.

When the tremors subsided, I watched as Jake lifted his fingers to his mouth and carefully licked them clean. His eyes closed as if removing one sense heightened another, and a funny vibration came from down deep in his chest. When every drop was gone, he got off the bed and knelt at the end, running his hands up my legs and hooking his arms under my knees. With a swift jerk, I slid down until my bottom was at the edge of the bed, and he threw my legs over his shoulders so that his face was inches from my center.

"I want more, honey." That strange rumble in his voice had become much more arousing than alarming. I could feel his hot breath on my skin as he lowered his head to taste me.

What happened next was almost more than I could bear. When he flattened his tongue to lick from one end to the other, I whimpered. When he flicked his tongue as he gently swirled my clit, I moaned—loudly. When he curled his tongue and entered me at a speed that just wasn't human, I lost all control. Every muscle contracted as my inner walls exploded with a force I hadn't thought possible. My breathing became ragged panting, my voice was hoarse from screaming, and my body went limp. Blackness overtook the fireworks behind my eyelids.

When I finally woke up, I was tingling all over, more relaxed and yet more energized than I'd ever been in my life. Closing my eyes, I relived the last few moments until I realized I could hear the familiar sound of my shower running. Jake wasn't in sight; evidently, he'd had to take care of himself because I was a useless pile of goo. I tested out my arms and legs, pleased that everything still seemed to be working. A washcloth was hanging off my chair, and I realized he'd cleaned me up after I passed out. The shower turned off, and the door to my room opened.

I didn't think anything could look better than Jacob naked. But if I had to pick a close second, it would have been Jacob dripping wet with a towel hung low on his hips. He caught me checking him out and smiled.

"Enjoying the show?" He asked as he slid into bed next to me.

"Immensely." He laughed at my reply, put his hands behind his head, and leaned back into my headboard. With my cheek on his chest, I snuggled up next to him. Even naked Jacob was warm. He lowered his arm to cuddle me closer to him. "Sorry, by the way, for passing out and leaving you to handle ... well, you know." I blushed at the last part.

"Believe me, Bells. You have nothing to apologize for. That was the best. Ever." I looked up at him in awe.

"Wait, what? You give me an uncountable number of orgasms, I pass out before I can reciprocate one, and you say it was the best ever?" To say I was shocked was a gross understatement.

"Oh, you'll reciprocate. Just later." He winked at me after I gave him a pinch. "In all honesty, it's amazing to know I can make you feel that way, that you're responding to my touch, that I'm the one that can make you scream." He brushed his fingers across my cheekbone, smoothing my hair behind my ear.

"Jacob Black, you are an incredible man. I love you." I expected him to pull me into another searing kiss, instead he stiffened and pulled away from me.

"But I'm not a man. Not really." I could see the bitter twist of his mouth when he turned his head toward the window."

"Yeah, obviously. Because no man can do what you do with your tongue." He smiled at my backhanded compliment. "At least, I presume no one is as talented as you. But, I have little experience in this. I can only assume that if most men were half as capable as you, women would never leave the house, never go to work. Families would starve. Our economy would have collapsed long ago." I tried to keep a stoic face throughout my speech, but as I continued, his smile got wider and brighter.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, yeah. Did you miss the part where I passed out? Now, get back over here and cuddle me, mister." I resumed my previous position and placed my ear over his heart. "Do you want to talk about the wolf thing? Are you allowed?" I felt his chest rise and fall as he sighed.

"I guess the wolf's outta the bag. We're not supposed to tell people for obvious reasons. But since I phased in front of you and then Paul told you, I guess you can know some details. So, yeah. I turn into a giant werewolf, and it doesn't have to be a full moon." He looked at me as if I were a frightened animal and might run away at any moment.

"Cool, any superpowers? Other than making your girlfriend pass out?" He laughed and relaxed a little.

"Some. We're fast, and strong. Heightened sense of smell and sight, I guess. I never really stopped to think about it." He looked thoughtful as if it really was the first time he was taking stock of what he could do.

"We?" I asked. "How many superwolves are there? You and the black one, right?" Jake looked sheepish.

"Oops. Yeah ... we. I guess I should just tell you everything. It'll be easier. The black wolf—that's Sam. There are five of us in total. But there shouldn't be. There's never been more than three in a pack in our tribe's history."

"You weren't bitten by a werewolf or anything? This is tribal?" I was confused. "Can you start at the beginning?"

So he did. Jake told me the legend of his tribe's greatest chief, Taha Aki, and his spirit warriors. He explained that was why they weren't really werewolves and why wolves were such a big part of the tribe's culture. He told me of the "cold ones," whom I guessed to be vampires. He said that spirit warriors were only called when danger was near the tribe and that none had turned since his great grandfather, Ephraim Black. He mentioned a treaty with some "friendly cold ones" that didn't eat people and that the treaty prevented the tribe from telling the "palefaces" what the "cold ones" really were. Except instead of saying "cold ones," Jacob started calling them words like "leech" and "bloodsucker."

"Bells, the next part is going to sound really weird. Please keep an open mind, okay?" Jacob sat me up so we could look at each other. "I'm the Alpha, the head wolf. It's a genetic thing. The last pack's Alpha was Ephraim. There's this super old legend that talks about one Alpha's mate and how she had powers over the pack. The legend says she was a sorceress of great power, and she became the Alpha female of the pack. She was an outsider like you." He stopped talking and gave me a significant look. "Bella, we think you might be the Alpha female of our pack."

I gave him a stunned stare and then burst into peals of laughter. "Seriously?" I clutched my sides because my stomach started to hurt. "Okay, Jake. I'll be anything you want me to be if I'm going to be treated to orgasms like that." My fingers started wandering down the hard ridges of his chest but he grabbed my hands in his.

"I'm serious, Bella. So much of my transformation has been different because of you. You were able to order Sam and Embry to put me to bed when I wasn't sick—the fever was a side effect of the change. After you told Paul you didn't want to hear another word from him, he wasn't able to speak until he apologised—just like you said. We're running blind here, but everything about you ... about us, has been different from what the lore says about past packs." He gently pulled my hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "You are the most amazing woman I have ever met, and you keep surprising me."

"Wait, you're serious? You think I'm a witch? That I'm going to turn into a wolf?" Dating a wolf was one thing. I wasn't so sure I wanted to _be_ one. Jake looked scandalized.

"No! I don't think you're a witch. Bella, please understand. We have no idea what's going on. There is one obscure legend as a guide for what's happening now. We're not allowed to tell most of the tribe, let alone outsiders. Please just know that I love you, and, for whatever reason, my wolf needed you to know about us." Jacob looked at me so desperately I knew he was telling the truth.

"Okay, Jake. I believe you. Well, I believe that you believe what you're saying is true. I don't believe that I have any superpowers, unless it's the power to have multiple orgasms." I winked at him to try to relieve his tension. I worked my way down his body with the intention of reciprocating, but we were interrupted by the sounds of wolves howling.

Jake's head swung between my window and my mouth which was closing in on his sizable package.

"Ah, fuck. Sorry, Bells. I gotta go see what the problem is. Believe me—I wish I could stay. Could we talk more tomorrow? There's more stuff I'd like to tell you." The wolf howls grew louder, and I knew he needed to go.

"Of course, Jake. Anything for you." He kissed me before he jumped out my bedroom window.

I threw on an old t-shirt and some underwear before heading back to bed. The last thing I expected after my bizarre evening was to have even stranger dreams, but I guess my subconscious went into overdrive after I fell asleep.

My hands and feet were shackled to a wall. The skin around the wrists and ankles was rubbed raw, cracked, and bleeding. I was filthy and dressed in barely more than rags. I guessed I was on a boat because I could hear the waves lapping against the hull. There was yelling above deck, something in Spanish, but I couldn't make out the words. Then there was shouting in another language, one I didn't recognize. The noise grew closer and I instinctively made myself as small as possible.

The door burst open, and three natives flew into the room. I saw more of them running past the open door. The tallest man in the group crouched before me and spoke in soft tones, his hand reaching out to me, palm up. He spoke to the other two, who quietly backed into the hallway. His hands were gentle as he turned my wrists over, frowning at the scabs around the shackles. He tugged on the restraints but couldn't open them.

I motioned with my chin towards the key hanging on the other side of the room. He quickly retrieved it and brought it back to me. I lifted the irons up to show him where the key went, and seconds later, the shackles were gone. It didn't help much. My body just wouldn't do what I told it to do, and I was too weak to stand. The only way I could move was to cling and lean on him. Before I knew it, he lifted me into his arms, crooning to me in his language. On a subconscious level, I was aware of how dirty I was, but I was too exhausted not to lay my head on his shoulder as he held me close. He was staring at me, and when I returned the look, I was mesmerized by what I saw. His eyes were an exact replica of Jake's.

Waking up with a start, I called out Jake's name only to hear a melodic voice come from the shadows.

"He's not here. Alice had a vision that you knew about us. That means the mutt broke the treaty. Don't worry, Bella. I can protect you from him. I can keep you safe."

"What are talking about? Edward, why the hell are you in my room?" I pulled the covers up around me, wishing more than anything that Jacob was with me.

"I told you, Bella. He broke the treaty. I came to talk to you, but you were asleep. Your window was open, and when I smelled your scent, I couldn't help myself. You are intoxicating." He moved from the window to my chair and lifted the washcloth Jake used on me earlier to his nose. "Bella, you have no idea how you affect me." He deeply inhaled and held the cloth to his face. "I can offer you so much more than he can."

"Edward, please leave. I have no idea what you're talking about, and you're scaring me." His sudden appearance left me so terrified I could barely get the words out. My heart was pounding against my ribcage. I desperately wished for a way to call Jake to me.

"No, Bella. You have never been scared of me. Most humans are but not you. It's part of your allure. You should be scared of _him_. But don't worry. I can protect you. I can keep you safe." He put the washcloth in his pocket and made his way towards my bed.

"Stay away," I whispered. I scooted up the bed and made myself as small as possible just like in my dream.

"Oh, Bella. You are not usually this melodramatic. Come with me. We'll leave this place and start a new life together. Forever." He reached down and pulled the blanket away from my trembling fingers. When his cool hand brushed mine, it all clicked in place.

"You're a cold one." I breathed out as I moved away from him. "A vampire. This whole time? Alice too?" My mind was reeling with the overload of supernatural in one night.

"You didn't know?" He pulled back his hand, confused. "But Alice saw you confronting her tomorrow. We assumed the dog told you. Please, come with me. I can explain everything." He reached for me again, and I cringed. I didn't like the way Edward kept calling Jake names. I didn't like how he kept saying he would protect me from Jacob. Everything about the situation made me angry. Then, like a light switch, I went from terrified to pissed.

"Where do you get off, Edward? You come into my room in the middle of the night saying you're here to protect me, and you're a vampire? Hypocrite much?" I stood up from my bed and pushed him backwards. Part of me realised I shouldn't have been able to do that, but I was too angry to care. "How dare you invite yourself into the sanctity of my bedroom and violate my privacy." I grabbed my washcloth from his pocket. "What Jake and I do together is none of your business, and I certainly don't need protection from him. Now, get out." I pointed to the window, fuming. I could feel a power within me willing him to leave. "GET OUT!" He looked back at me with an expression I couldn't read then jumped through the open window and blurred down the street.

Not a second later, a pack of three wolves burst through the tree line and gave chase in the direction Edward disappeared. The one I recognized as Jake veered off from the group and headed straight for my house. He leapt into the air and changed back into his human form just as reached my window. He easily caught the trim and swung into my room.

"Thank God you're safe, Bella. I don't know if I could forgive myself if one of them got you." He pulled me tightly against him, unwilling to let go.

"Oh, Jake. I was so afraid then so angry. How did you know I needed you?" He carried me to my bed and sat me on his lap.

"I heard you calling me, Bells." He kissed my forehead and cradled me closer to him. "A new wolf changed tonight—that's why I left earlier. We were in the woods when we caught the scent of four leeches hanging around the border. I don't think they expected for there to be six of us. They weren't crossing into our territory, but were clearly trying to get our attention. It was a bit of a standoff for awhile, and then I felt you. I felt you calling me. I felt your fear." He lay back and pulled me down next to him. "Sam realised that this must be some diversion, and half of us raced here. God, Bella. How did you fight him off? What happened?"

"I had a crazy dream, and when I woke up, Edward was in my bedroom." I felt Jake's chest rumble under me as I explained. "He kept saying that you broke the treaty and that he would protect me from you. He wanted me to leave with him. I was so terrified I just kept wishing you were here." I tilted my head up and kissed his chin. "He said Alice 'saw' that I knew about them being vampires, and he came to talk to me about it. I guess he didn't realise his presence is what tipped me off. Self fulfilling prophecy or something, I guess. Then I got really angry he was here and at the things he kept saying. So I told him to leave."

"And he just left? He didn't try to take you with him?"

"I was really mad!" I laughed. "And I felt really powerful, like he had better leave or he'd regret it. Is that crazy?"

"No, Bells, it's not crazy. You're so amazing, Bella. I'm so lucky to have you." He suddenly went quiet and held me in silence for a few minutes. When I looked up, I saw tears on his face.

"Jake, don't cry. I'm fine." I reached up to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"I should have been here. It should have been me protecting you. If I had lost you, it would have been all my fault. I should have been here."

"Shh, baby. Shh. How could you have known someone would creep into my room? You can't protect me from what you don't know, Jake." I cuddled into his side laying my head over his heart. "You're here now, so stay. Stay with me tonight. My head's about to explode with everything that's happened and I'm exhausted. We can figure it out in the morning."

He slid down the bed, covered us both with the blanket, and then I curled around him. After a while, the tension left his body, and he started to relax. But when I closed my eyes, I felt a rumbling coming from Jake's chest, and I looked up at him in surprise.

"Sorry, Bells, but I just started to think about it, and Jesus, I hate I missed it. I'd have paid good money to see you throw Cullen's ass out the window." His laughter was infectious. "I'm betting that ice-hole still has no idea what hit him." When I remembered the odd expression on Edward's face, I started to giggle too.

After a minute, Jake paused and then rolled over and gave me a huge grin. "You know, honey, it could be that we've got this all wrong. Maybe from now on _you're_ the one that needs to protect _me_."


End file.
